Death toll in South Africa school bus crash rises to 14 as the driver is charged with murder

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Two teenage girls died Thursday of their injuries in this week’s school bus crash in South Africa ’s Gauteng province, raising the death toll to 14, authorities said, as the bus driver was charged with murder.

The private minibus was transporting 16 students to various primary and high schools in the south of Johannesburg on Monday when it collided with a truck around 7 a.m., leaving 12 children dead at the scene, according to authorities.

Seven people, including five students, the bus driver and a passenger in the truck, were injured and hospitalized. Three of the seven injured were discharged.

One of the injured students, a teenage girl who was in intensive care at Sebokeng Hospital, died Thursday morning, the Gauteng health department said. Another female student died at a private hospital, police Lt. Col. Mavela Masondo said.

Two surviving children remain hospitalized.

The minibus driver, Ayanda Dludla, 22, originally was to be charged with several counts of culpable homicide, police said.

However the charges were upgraded Thursday to 14 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and driving without a professional license, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.

Dludla appeared Thursday before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court, where he declined to seek bail.

The case was adjourned until March 5 for further investigation.