At least 16 schoolchildren were killed on Friday (September 16) in a collision between a minibus and a truck on a highway about 300 km north of Durban, South Africa, authorities said.
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial transport ministry reported the death toll at 16, with local media citing the deaths of 19 children aged 5 to 12 and three adults.
"The death of so many young people is a great tragedy
," provincial transport minister Sipho Hlomuka said in a statement.
The accident took place in the Pongola region, near the border with Eswatini.
South Africa has one of the best road networks on the continent, but road safety remains an issue due to dangerous driving behavior.