A SCHOOL wall collapsed onto an eight-year-old Mpumalanga pupil on Tuesday afternoon, fracturing his skull and breaking several ribs.
The 2m wall fell on Elken Siburi as pupils filed out of Tshweni Primary School, 20km from White River, after watching a movie.
He was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria for specialised treatment, and is recovering. One other injured child was taken to Themba hospital, but more than 100 pupils escaped unhurt.
Jake Shabangu, who lives near the school and took Elken to hospital, said: “I found the boy lying on his back, breathing through his bloodied nose.” He drove Elken to Themba hospital, and said: “I had to risk the lives of four people in my car to get the boy to hospital on roads damaged by floods, not sure whether he would survive or not.”
He said he checked on Elken on Wednesday and was told the boy had been transferred to Pretoria, but had no details. No senior officials at Themba hospital were immediately available for comment.
Education department spokesman Peter Maminza said the incident would be investigated. The nearest police station to the school, at Masoyi, was not aware of the accident on Wednesday afternoon.
— African Eye News Service, March 16, 2000.