A bus crash claimed 12 lives and left 40 injured on the N3 near Pietermaritzburg on Sunday, said KwaZulu-Natal police.
Superintendent Joshua Gwala said the bus driver lost control of the vehicle and it overturned, slamming into pillars under a bridge on the N3 south at 05:00.
"The bus was badly smashed. The whole roof was crushed when it hit the pillars," he said.
The dead included three children, said Gwala. Their trapped bodies had to be removed by rescue workers.
He said the injured were taken to the Northdale, Greys and St Anne's Hospitals.
The cause of the accident is unknown and police were questioning the 34-year-old driver of the SA Roadlink bus, he said.
A culpable homicide docket had been opened.
Both south and north-bound carriageways were initially closed to traffic. By mid-morning one of the north-bound lanes had re-opened. South-bound lanes were still closed and traffic was being diverted.
Traffic authorities turned away two unroadworthy buses which arrived to take away the uninjured passengers, a transport department official at the scene said on condition of anonymity.
- SAPA
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