At least 7 people died and schoolchildren were swept away while floods and snow hit South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa (AP) – At least seven people died in flooding in South Africa after a meteorological front brought heavy rains and snow hit the East and South provinces, officials announced on Tuesday.
A bus transporting high school students was swept away by the floods of Cape Oriental province and an unknown number of children was missing, the provincial government said in a statement. Three children were rescued after hanging on the trees, according to the South African National Taxi Council, which said that the bus had been operated by one of its members.
The disaster reaction teams were activated in the province on the southern coast.
Six people died in flood in the east of Mthatha, where houses and cars were overwhelmed. A seventh body was found near the city of Tsolo, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Mthatha, said the provincial government.
He indicated that an excavation was underway for the minibuses carrying schoolchildren who were swept away on Tuesday morning. Santaco, the Taxi Council, said that it was not clear how many children there were on the 22 -seat bus when it had been swept away by flood waters on a bridge near Mthatha.
“Eye witnesses on the scene reported having seen at least three (children) hang on to the trees and call for help,” said Santaco. “The three have since been rescued.”
The Prime Minister of Cap Oriental, Oscar Mabuyane, said: “It is a devastating reminder of the force of nature”.
On Tuesday, five other people were killed in a car accident in CAP Oriental when a minibus taxi overturned, the spokesperson for the provincial transport department Unathi Binqose. He said that the driver of the minibus was trying to avoid a tree that fell on the road.
The South African meteorological service has planned several days of rain and disruptive snow for Cape Oriental and the neighboring province of Kwazulu-Natal along the East Coast. Part of a major highway connecting the two provinces was closed due to snow and intervention teams in the event of a disaster was also activated in Kwazulu-Natal.
South Africa sometimes experiences snow in certain regions, but the authorities had warned for days that a particularly strong cold front was about to hit the country.
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