Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department is set to investigate Tuesday’s Stellenbosch bus crash after 36 pupils on board were injured when the vehicle overturned.
The school bus was travelling along the R44 near Stellenbosch at around 7.15am when it flipped over, Metro EMS spokesman Robert Daniels said.
The department confirmed the pupils were on their way to Cloetesville High School when the incident occurred.
When ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene, they found one of the pupils with his hand pinned under the bus. With the help of fire and rescue services, the 14-year-old’s hand was pulled from under the vehicle’s metal frame, ER24 spokeswoman Chitra Bodasing said.
He was airlifted to Tygerberg Hospital. Another pupil was also admitted to the hospital’s trauma unit.
Of the 36 injured, the majority were taken to Stellenbosch Hospital and the rest to Paarl Hospital.
Most had only sustained minor injuries, and were discharged later in the day, Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said.
She visited Stellenbosch Hospital on Tuesday and said she was relieved that the pupils had been discharged.
The two pupils admitted to Tygerberg were, however, still receiving treatment on Tuesday night. But Schäfer said they were in a stable condition.
It is still not clear what caused the bus to overturn. The department is set to investigate the crash “fully, in line with procedure”, added Schäfer.
Buses are tested once every six months to check if they were still roadworthy, said the department’s spokesman Paddy Attwell.
Meanwhile, they have sent psychologists, social workers and counsellors to provide trauma counselling for pupils at the high school.
The crash comes just a few days after a child was killed in a bus crash in Schaapkraal.
According to witnesses, the bus was taking the children to church when it suddenly flipped over at one of the area’s intersections.