A woman was killed and more than 15 other people were injured when a Putco bus and a minibus taxi collided in Loopspruit in Mpumalanga on Monday morning.

The two vehicles were travelling from Ekangala to KwaMhlanga.

Captain Mumsy Cibe said the accident was believed caused by a distraction while overtaking.

The Toyota Hi-Ace minibus overtook the bus at a very high speed. When it was getting back to the left hand side of the road, the driver was distracted by the wreckage of another minibus taxi that had knocked down a donkey earlier on.

There was blood all over the wrecked vehicle and chunks of the flesh of the animal were lying in the road.

"He might have been frightened by what he saw in front of him and he applied the emergency brakes, resulting in his vehicle being rammed behind by the bus. The minibus then quickly took a twist to the right and faced the bus, which hit it again in front," she said.

Cibe said the driver of the bus, an unidentified woman in her mid 30s, then lost control of the vehicle.

"The bus left the road and went to the bushes, crashing into several trees on the way. The driver only managed to stop it after about 500m and she escaped unhurt."

A case of culpable homicide

A minibus taxi passenger in her early 50s was killed instantly.

Cibe said it was not clear how many passengers were in the taxi and how many were on board the bus.

She said all the taxi passengers were seriously injured including the driver, while the ones from the bus sustained minor injuries.

But she could not provide the overall number of the casualties as the paramedics quickly rushed them to Bronkhorstspruit and KwaMhlanga hospitals.

Rescue workers were clearing the road of debris while shocked on-lookers watched.

The accident delayed the traffic as the road was closed for two hours.

Cibe said preliminary investigations indicated that the bus was possibly unroadworthy.

A case of culpable homicide was opened for investigation. No arrests were made.

Sapa