20100919
reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A crowded minibus taxi collided head-on with a truck early on Saturday in South Africa, killing 22 Malawians who were travelling back to their home country, the South African Press Association said.

Among the dead were the minibus the driver and three children, SAPA said on Sunday, citing local police in Cape Town.

Three adults and three children survived and were in serious condition at a hospital, SAPA said. The truck driver was also seriously injured.

Millions of mostly black South African use minibus taxis, which are often dangerously overcrowded, to travel between townships and cities. Many of the vehicles are barely roadworthy and fatal accidents are common.

In February South African police arrested a minibus taxi driver for driving drunk while transporting 49 children in a 16-seat vehicle.