Horror crash: Children were heading home
The school children who died in a horror crash on the R25 between Verena and Bronkhorstspruit were apparently heading home to Mpumalanga after their first week back at school in Gauteng.
Nineteen learners and a taxi driver died in a head-on collision between a truck and a taxi.
Mpumalanga Community Safety spokesperson Joseph Mabuza said they don't yet know which schools the learners attended.
"We do have authorities from Gauteng Education who will brief us so we can understand where they came from," said Mabuza.
Tshwane emergency services' Johan Pieterse said they were called in to attend to the crash.
"According to eyewitnesses, the taxi driver underestimated the speed of the truck and it turned right in front of the truck."
Pieterse said the taxi caught fire.
"Most of the children who were trapped and the driver, who could not escape, burnt to ashes," said Pieterse.