Two Khatisa pupils die in taxi accident

Two pupils were killed and several injured when the driver of a taxi from Mdabula, ferrying school children to the Khatisa Secondary School at Mukhomi-Gumbani, allegedly lost control early on Wednesday morning and the vehicle roverturned.

The circumstances of the accident are still sketchy, but eyewitnesses believe the driver tried to avoid potholes, lost control of the vehicle and it overturned. After the accident, pupils who were already in classes were called to the assembly where the devastating news was broken to them.

On hearing the sad news, many cried hysterically.

Stakeholders, who included civics, councillors, pastors and the local traditional leadership, visited the school and offered the pupils and staff support. There was no way learning and teaching could continue and pupils were sent back home. When this paper visited the school, there was a meeting of stakeholders and pupils were leaving the school premises in groups and the morale was visibly very low.

“We are saddened by what happened here. We were ready to start with the day’s programme when we heard about the accident. Due to the severity of it, we were forced to cancel everything. We are just comforted by the fact that stakeholders came here to offer us support and we are now better,” said Mr David Sarila, the school principal.

Mhlaba Mabasa, a granny who stays near the scene of the accident, said she was outside the house when she heard a loud noise coming from the road. “I rushed in that direction, only to see a capsized taxi just next to my yard. The taxi was full of school children who were badly injured, and I later heard that one of them had died on the spot and the other one at the hospital.”

News - Date: 25 July 2014

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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