Johannesburg : At least 27 people were killed on Friday in a road crash in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province after a truck swerved into oncoming traffic when its tyre burst, a local minister said. The accident involving multiple vehicles killed 25 travelling in a mini-bus taxi and two more in a sports utility vehicle. “Overall we lost 27 people with four others sustaining serious bodily injuries,” said the provincial transport minister Makoma Makhurupetje.
“What happened today is nothing short of a disaster,” she said in a statement. Earlier she told AFP the truck had burst one of its front tyres. “Unfortunately it crossed over into oncoming traffic with another four vehicles and one of the vehicles was a taxi (minibus),” Makhurupetge said. Despite having one of the sophisticated road networks, South Africa battles with a high rate of road fatalities.