Two children killed as taxi overturns on poor quality Bloemhof road

Two children died when a taxi transporting scholars overturned on the way to school.

The crash happened on the R34 between Hoopstad and Bloemhof on Wednesday morning.

According to North West police spokesperson Capt Aafje Botma, the taxi was transporting 25 pupils living in Hoopstad to Bloemhof Primary.

“About 7km outside Bloemhof, the driver of the vehicle allegedly lost control of the taxi. Two of the pupils were trapped in the vehicle and unfortunately died on the accident scene.”

Some of the other occupants were injured and transported to a local hospital.

Botma was unable to confirm the number of injuries reported or details on the deceased as “police were still busy on the scene”.

The cause of the crash is not yet known.

A government delegation on Tuesday visited the road linking Hoopstad in the Free State and Bloemhof in the North West after a viral video on social media.

TimesLIVE