Driver arrested after bakkie ferrying pupils crashes into tree at City Hall
JUST minutes away from starting their school day, a group of primary school pupils had to be treated for shock and minor injuries when the bakkie they were travelling in crashed into a tree outside Port Elizabeth’s City Hall yesterday morning.
Eleven pupils – ranging from Grade R to Grade 5 and from Ed-U College and Urban Academy schools – were in the back of a white Isuzu bakkie going down Whites Road when, according to the driver, the brakes failed.
One pupil was taken to hospital, with the other 10 being treated for shock at the scene.
The driver, Chuma Salavu, was arrested on charges of reckless and drunk driving and taken to the Humewood police station for questioning.
Salavu, 43, of New Brighton, sustained minor facial injuries. He declined to comment.
His mother and owner of the vehicle, Salome Salavu, 59, was in the passenger seat when the crash occurred.
A tree and a pole in front of the City Hall were ripped out of the ground in the crash.
“We were going so fast I was getting worried that we would not be able to stop. I was scared for the children in the back because I am a mother and these children are like my own,” Salome said .
“He [Chuma] did try to take control of the vehicle again but just couldn’t.”
Staff members from Ed-U College ran across the road to carry the distressed children to their premises where they received treatment from paramedics.
Ed-U College deputy principal Roxanne Stark said they had realised something was wrong when other pupils began running toward the accident scene instead of entering the school building.
“The kids were running in the wrong direction and when we realised what had happened, it was all hands on deck at that stage. We assisted the kids to our school and alerted Urban Academy school to come and fetch them.
“It blows my mind that someone would transport children knowing that they are [allegedly] under the influence of alcohol and think it is okay,” she said.
She said there were four pupils – three boys and a girl – from their school involved in the accident and that their parents had been informed.
A traffic officer on the scene, who did not want to be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media, said the tree had brought the bakkie to a safer stop.
“If the tree was not there, the bakkie would have gone right into the building [City Hall] which could have been fatal. Hitting the tree was his best option,” he said.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed the suspect was arrested by a metro policeman for reckless and drunken driving.
“We won’t know for sure how much he was over the limit as we have not yet received the results of the blood tests.”