Driver flees after vehicle plunges off bridge, injures over 20 schoolchildren in South Africa

Authorities in KwaZulu-Natal are searching for a taxi driver who fled the scene after a vehicle carrying more than 20 learners plunged off a bridge in the Midlands, leaving most of the children seriously injured.

The incident, reported on Monday, is the third crash involving learner transport in the Umgungundlovu District in just five days. Last Thursday, three schoolchildren died in a separate accident, while several others remain in hospital.

KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya told state broadcaster SABC that the driver abandoned the injured children at the scene.