Two female British students killed and 18 injured as their safari bus overturns in South Africa

Two female British students killed and 18 injured as their safari bus overturns in South Africa

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 3:45 PM on 10th June 2010

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Two girls have been killed today after a bus of British students crashed just outside the South African city hosting the World Cup.

The pair, both 19, died after their four-wheel drive safari tour vehicle veered off the road and flipped over near Nelspruit.

Another 20 people - 18 British students, the tour guide and the driver - were injured in the accident.

The Overland Tour Truck overturned some 40kms from Nelspruit today, killing two 19-year-old British students

There were 18 British students on board the bus, a Zimbabwean bus driver and a South African tour guide

The girls were due to return to Britain tomorrow and are not thought to have been in the country for the World Cup celebrations.

Speaking at the scene near Nelspruit, police spokesman Captain Leonard Hlathi said the Overland Tour Truck bus was carrying a group of students.

He said: 'There was a bus crash and two of the passengers, both female, passed away at the scene.

'Twenty of them were taken to the hospital and one of them was described as critical and was airlifted to Nelspruit Medi Clinic.

The group were due to return to Britain tomorrow, having been on holiday in the country since June 1

'The driver apparently lost control and overturned.The two bodies are being removed from the wreckage.'

He said the 20 injured included 18 Britons, the tour guide and driver.

Lieutenant Colonel Leon Engelbrecht of the Mpumalanga police said that police had opened a culpable homicide docket.

According to local reports the truck swerved and overturned on a road. Local reporters said some of the injured were trapped under the truck for a period of time.

The group was travelling as part of an organised trip from Swaziland to Nelspruit and were being driven in a tour bus by a Zimbabwean driver.

The passengers were believed to be college students who had arrived in the country on June 1.

The accident happened a few miles from Barberton on the Bulembu road.

The crash happened in Nelspruit, which is hosting the World Cup at the Mbombela Stadium (pictured)

The casualties were understood to be suffering from a range of injuries, from a fractured spine to head and face lacerations. Four are in a critical condition.

Two men, aged 22 and 25, and a 30-year-old woman were being treated at the Nelspruit Medi Centre where they will stay overnight.

It is understood eight casualties were being transferred to the centre from the provincial hospital in Barberton.

Another three were being transferred from the medi clinic in Barberton.

A British High Commission spokesman said: 'We are aware of reports of a bus crash in Nelspruit.

'We are working very closely with the South Africa authorities to try to ascertain more details.'

South Africa's roads are notoriously dangerous.

Official statistics show the country has an average of 42 road deaths every day.

South Africa's Road Safety Foundation spokeswoman Petro Kruger said there were a total of 980,000 accidents every year.