CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — At least seven people have died in flooding in South Africa after a weather front bringing heavy rain and snow hit eastern and southern provinces, officials said Tuesday.
A bus carrying high school students was swept away in the floods in the Eastern Cape province and an unknown number of children were missing, the provincial government said in a statement. Three children were rescued after they clung onto trees, according to the South African National Taxi Council, which said the bus was operated by one of its members.
Disaster response teams have been activated in the province on the south coast.
Six people died in flooding in the Eastern Cape city of Mthatha, where houses and cars were left submerged. A seventh body was recovered near the town of Tsolo, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Mthatha, the provincial government said.
It said a search was underway for the minibus carrying schoolchildren that was swept away on Tuesday morning. SANTACO, the taxi council, said it was unclear how many children there were on the 22-seater bus when it was swept away by floodwater at a bridge near Mthatha.
“Eyewitnesses at the scene reported seeing at least three (children) clinging to trees and calling for help,” SANTACO said. “The three have since been rescued.”
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said “this is a devastating reminder of nature’s force.”
Another five people were killed in a car crash in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday when a minibus taxi overturned, according to provincial transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose. He said the driver of the minibus was attempting to avoid a tree that had fallen onto the road.
The South African Weather Service has forecast several days of disruptive rain and snow for the Eastern Cape and the neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province along the east coast. Part of a major highway connecting the two provinces was closed because of snow and disaster response teams were also activated in KwaZulu-Natal.
South Africa occasionally experiences snow in some parts, but authorities had warned for days that a particularly strong cold front was about to hit the country.
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