Packed schoolbus crashes

Wet weather has been blamed for an accident that caused a bus, packed with children from a special needs school and six teachers, to crash on a busy highway.

However, traffic officials on the scene said two of the rear tyres of the bus were smooth. Metro Rescue said 41 passengers were treated on the scene for “light injuries”, with six admitted with suspected serious injuries.

Teacher Patsy Adams suffered severe head injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit of GF Jooste hospital. Another teacher, Jean Schoonraad, was discharged from a private hospital in Elsies River after receiving treatment for a back injury, while a third member of staff, Michael Maart, was X-rayed for a possible shoulder injury.

Pupils and teachers from Beacon School, in Mitchells Plain, were travelling to a provincial athletics meeting for children with special needs when the bus overturned on the R300 near Delft.

School principal Sheryl Muller said the bus tilted to one side as it slid on the wet road surface before overturning.

“He (the driver) was well within the speed limit when the accident happened, which we suspect was caused by the wet weather,” said Muller. She said staff members were concerned for one of the teachers on the bus, who suffered a head injury.

“Right now we’re dealing with parents who came to the school as soon as word of the accident got out,” said Muller.

By late afternoon all of the pupils who had not been seriously injured had gone home with their parents. “All the pupils received counselling at the school and from tomorrow we’ll assess the situation and see whether further counselling is required,” said Muller.

By late Tuesday afternoon only two pupils from the school were still at Tygerberg hospital, one with a fractured rib and another who had been admitted for observation.

Chadlee Stemmet, one of the pupils discharged from the Mitchells Plain Day hospital, had complained of a severe headache.

This prompted his grandmother, Rosetta Wyngaard, to return him to the hospital where she was given a referral letter “in case something happened during the night”.

“One of his ears and his eyebrows had to be stitched after the accident,” said Wyngaard.

Muller said she did not know anything about reports from the accident scene about the tyres of the bus being smooth. Searle Johannes, a spokesperson for Cape Town traffic services who attended the scene of the accident, said according to a preliminary report, the driver of the bus braked when the bus skidded on the wet road surface.

“His wheels locked and the bus overturned,” said Johannes, adding that two of the vehicle’s outer rear tyres were smooth.

He said the issue of the tyres would be looked at by an SAPS forensic investigator, who is expected to compile the accident report.

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