Cape Town - Five children being transported to school in Mitchells Plain were killed in a tragic crash along AZ Berman Drive on Tuesday morning.
Screams of horror could be heard at the scene as motorists and passers-by witnessed the children being flung from a bakkie just before 8am.
Pictures and videos of the horrific crash immediately started circulating on social media, including WhatsApp. The videos and images were graphic in nature, showing the lifeless bodies of the children in school uniform pinned under cars, and in the roadway close to Promenade Mall.
In one of the videos captured at the scene, a white bakkie can be seen pinned to a traffic light, an injured person is being attended to while onlookers stand by.
The camera pans to the body of a child under a white sheet underneath a Golden Arrow bus.
Further down the road, debris believed to be from the bakkie is strewn across the motorway.
Another two children’s lifeless bodies lie metres from the crash scene, on the cold, wet tarmac.
In some of the videos, women can be heard screaming and crying, calling for the arrest of a driver they claim is intoxicated.
A video of an emergency medical helicopter leaving the scene has also been circulated.
Sub-council 17 chairman Councillor Elton Jansen expressed his condolences, and confirmed the child victims were from different schools.
“I am saddened by the tragic road accident that happened this morning at the AZ Berman and Kerrem intersection in Beacon Valley, Mitchells Plain.
“(The children are from) Wespoort Primary, Lentegeur High, Duneside Primary, Highlands Primary, Harvester Primary and Ridgeville Primary schools.
“I would like to convey my deepest and sincerest condolences to the families experiencing the heartache of their tragic loss.
“I also wish a speedy recovery to the scholars who have sustained injuries due to this accident,” he said.
He further called for a ban on transporting scholars in open vehicles like bakkies, overcrowded vehicles, and vehicles without the necessary safety measures.
Provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said a case of culpable homicide was being investigated.
“Mitchells Plain police registered a culpable homicide case for investigation following a fatal crash which claimed the lives of five children in AZ Berman Drive, Mitchells Plain this morning at about 7.30am.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
“Anyone with any information about this incident is kindly requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111,” Twigg said.
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said the children were believed to be between 13 and 16 years old.
“ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene at 08h07, finding the Western Cape Metro and City of Cape Town Fire already in attendance.
“On closer inspection, medics found a bakkie upright in the middle of the road. Several children believed to be aged between 13 and 16, were seen scattered some distance away from the bakkie.
“Medics assessed the children and found that five had already succumbed to their numerous injuries while a sixth was in critical condition with numerous injuries.
“Paramedics treated the critical patient and provided him with numerous advanced life support interventions before he was transported to a nearby hospital for urgent care,” Meiring said.
Emergency personnel and police were still on the scene.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis expressed his condolences to the families who lost their children.
“Our City mourns together with the families of scholars who died in the fatal crash in Mitchells Plain this morning. This is a terrible, dark day in our city.
“As a parent, my heart breaks for those who will not see their children return home from school today.
“While it can never restore the lives so tragically taken, we trust that authorities will establish the full facts surrounding this incident so that there may be accountability for any wrongdoing,” Hill-Lewis said.