3 young Britons killed when bus carrying school group crashes in South Africa

Bus crash kills 3 Britons in SAfrica ahead of WCup

NELSPRUIT, South Africa — Three Britons who were part of a school group touring South Africa were killed in a bus crash Thursday, police and British officials said.

The vehicle was carrying 22 people, including 18 British students and two British teachers, when it veered off the road near Barberton, just outside the World Cup host city of Nelspruit in northeast South Africa, provincial police spokesman Capt. Leonard Hlathi told The Associated Press

Two British women and a British man were killed and 19 people were injured, Hlathi said. Nicola Brewer, the British High Commissioner to South Africa, said 11 of those injured are still in the hospital.

Police said a Zimbabwean driver and a South African tour guide were also on the bus when it overturned.

Eight injured tourists were being taken to the clinic and three people, two males and a female, had already arrived, Nelspruit Medi-Clinic spokeswoman Robyn Baard said.

“Two are serious but presently in a stable condition. We are expecting to receive more patients soon,” Baard said.

Hlathi said a tourist safety doctor and a bus safety inspector from the provincial traffic department attended the crash and some of the injured were treated at the scene.