JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A collision involving a minibus taxi and a truck killed at least 11 people in South Africa on Thursday, a local government official and emergency services said, just over a week after a similar road crash left 14 schoolchildren dead.

Thursday’s early morning crash happened near the city of Durban in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. Provincial transport department official Siboniso Duma said in a statement that 11 people including a schoolchild died at the scene, although that was according to preliminary information.

“Witnesses have alleged that the truck driver made a U-turn resulting in a head-on collision,” Duma said, adding there would be an investigation into the crash by metropolitan and national police.

Garrith Jamieson, spokesperson for the private paramedic service ALS Paramedics, told The Associated Press from the scene that 11 were dead and seven people were critically injured, including the driver of the minibus, who was trapped in the wreckage. Emergency personnel were trying to free him, Jamieson said.

The fatal collision came days after a deadly head-on crash between a minibus being used to transport schoolchildren and a truck in another province.

The driver of the minibus involved in that crash near Johannesburg on Jan. 19 was arrested and charged with 14 counts of murder after authorities alleged he was driving recklessly by overtaking a line of vehicles before crashing into the truck. Authorities also said the driver's permit to operate a minibus was expired.

The 22-year-old driver was initially charged with an offense comparable to manslaughter, but the charges were upgraded to murder, according to state prosecutors.

Minibus taxis are the preferred method of public transport for most South Africans to get to and from work, with estimates that they are used by approximately 70% of commuters. More than 10 million people in a country of 62 million use minibuses to commute, according to government statistics.

The minibuses operate on roads at busy commuter times in the morning and evening and are often involved in serious crashes.

Africa has a wider problem with road safety and crashes kill about 300,000 people annually, about a quarter of the global toll. Africa has the world’s highest road traffic fatality rate at 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with a global average of about 18, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa. This is despite the continent of 1.5 billion people accounting for just about 3% of the global vehicle population.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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