LIMPOPO – The police in Roossenekal, under the Sekhukhune District, have arrested a scholar transport driver (31) after a fatal incident that killed a boy (7) and injured 14 other children on Wednesday (August 20).

The Limpopo police say the incident occurred on the R555 road near Marikana village.

“When authorities arrived at the scene, they found a white Toyota Avanza extensively damaged. Fifteen schoolchildren, all learners from Laerskool Roossenekal and residents of Ngwaabe Village, were scattered across the road with multiple injuries,” the Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba’s statement reads.

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Emergency services declared the 7-year-old boy dead at the scene, while the other 14 children were taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

Mashaba says preliminary investigations suggest the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to overturn.

“Further probing established that the suspect was intoxicated at the time of the incident and was transporting more children than the vehicle is legally permitted to carry. He now faces charges of culpable homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol, inconsiderate driving, and overloading,” Mashaba says.

The suspect will appear before the Groblersdal Magistrate’s Court tomorrow (August 22).

Meanwhile, the provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, says the police will not tolerate negligence.

“Transporting children is a responsibility that demands the highest level of care and discipline. We will not tolerate reckless and unlawful behaviour that endangers the lives of our children,” she says.