HARARE, Zimbabwe — A minibus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in central Zimbabwe on Wednesday afternoon, killing seven children, authorities said.
Twenty-four children were on board when the vehicle burst into flames in Gweru, according to a police statement. Police said an investigation is underway, but initial examinations suggest a jerry can of petrol stored inside the minibus may have intensified the blaze.
Authorities did not immediately release the number of people injured in the incident.
Local media reported that the driver and conductor were taken to a hospital and that all seven victims were schoolchildren.
State broadcaster ZBC News published photos of the burned-out vehicle, saying some children managed to escape while others trapped inside were killed. Rescue workers and firefighters responded to the scene.
Private minibuses and unregulated sedan taxis are widely used in Zimbabwe to transport children to and from school.
The crash has renewed concerns about overcrowded vehicles used for school transport in the southern African country, which has a population of about 15 million people.
In February, a cabinet minister said he had stopped a minibus carrying 42 schoolchildren despite the vehicle having a legal passenger capacity of 15.
Road accidents involving buses, minibuses and unregulated sedan taxis are common in Zimbabwe, which has one of Africa’s highest traffic fatality rates. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 30 people die on the country’s roads per 100,000 people each year. Authorities say human error accounts for just over 90% of crashes.
Across Africa, road crashes kill an estimated 300,000 people annually, about a quarter of the global toll, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The agency says the continent, home to about 1.5 billion people, has the world’s highest road fatality rate despite accounting for only about 3% of the global vehicle population.