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- At least 77 people, some of them university students, were injured when two buses collided in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, on Tuesday morning.
- Numerous passengers were flung out of the vehicles and others were trapped inside.
- The accident happened near to the entrance of the University of Johannesburg's Kingsway campus.
A gruesome scene greeted Johannesburg paramedics on Tuesday morning when they responded to a report of a crash involving two buses in Auckland Park and found injured people strewn across the road and passengers trapped inside the two vehicles.
At least 77 people were injured in the crash just before 08:00, according to Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen.
Among the injured were three University of Johannesburg (UJ) students who had to be hospitalised. Other students sustained minor injuries which were treated at the UJ's medical facility.
Van Reenen said one of the buses overturned and was found on its side when paramedics arrived at the scene.
The second one collided with a concrete structure, he said.
"Several patients were found to have sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious. An on-scene triage area was established by incident commanders, and additional resources were dispatched by the Emer-G-Med Emergency Operations Centre," he added.
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The Johannesburg Fire Department had to use specialised hydraulic equipment to extract several trapped people from the buses.
Van Reenen added:
Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Xolani Fihla said the accident took place in Kingsway Avenue at the entrance to the university's Kingsway campus.
He said the accident occurred between a metro bus and a privately owned bus and that two passengers were in a serious condition.
He added that police would open a case of reckless and negligent driving for investigation.
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said when paramedics arrived at the scene, several passengers were seen walking around the vehicles.
"Local authorities began to divert traffic while medics tended to the patients. On assessment, medics found that approximately 70 patients had sustained injuries ranging from minor to severe. Fortunately, no fatalities were found," he said.
"The exact details surrounding this incident are unknown, but local authorities were on the scene for further investigations."
JHB - Auckland Park: #BusCrash near the entrance to UJ - HEAVY TRAFFIC in the area #UJBusCrash pic.twitter.com/lE9lLmrmgn
— TrafficSA (@TrafficSA) July 25, 2023
UJ confirmed that preliminary investigations revealed that 19 of its students were on the bus.
"One of the buses was ferrying students between the university's campuses. Various support divisions from the university, including the UJ medical support services and campus protection were immediately on the scene to assist," UJ spokesperson Masego Panyane said.
Three students were taken to a hospital, while 16 others received treatment for minor injuries on campus.
Panyane said the university's centre for psychological services and career development had arranged counselling services for affected students.
UJ's Herman Esterhuizen said the institution was saddened to hear that their students were injured in the crash.
"Our thoughts are with the affected students and their families. The university will do everything it can to ensure that the students receive the necessary medical care and counselling.
"The university takes the safety and well-being of its students seriously, and the university will work closely with the relevant authorities to establish the facts surrounding the accident," he said.
