16 dead as S. African school bus crashes into minibus

A school bus carrying students to a sports event collided with a minibus in South Africa’s southeast killing at least 16 and injuring 31, officials said.

The accident occurred in the Eastern Cape near the town of Cradock. The Mercedes Benz school bus was being “driven by the principal,” Ashraf Ismail, a spokesman for South Africa’s road traffic managment agency told AFP.

He said 13 of the dead were travelling on the minibus. Two of the three other fatalities were children.

The eNews television channel said the students were on their way to a rugby match.

Despite good infrastructure, South African roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with some 13,000 people killed every year — more than 35 a day.