A harrowing video shows the horrific moment a 55-tonne truck crashed into a car carrying 18 schoolchildren, killing everyone on board, after plunging onto the wrong side of the road in South Africa.
In a case that shocked the country, dash cam footage from the truck’s cab shows the massive vehicle hurtling down the wrong side of the road as oncoming traffic swerves out of the way.
The heavy vehicle, carrying a whopping 34 tonnes of coal, overtakes fifteen vehicles before crashing headlong into a much smaller Toyota van at over 100km/h.
School driver Lethukuthula Nkonyane, 19, and passenger school teacher Zinhle Mkhize, 28, were killed instantly when the 55-tonne truck hit them.
Eighteen schoolchildren aged between five and 12 lost their lives when the truck dragged the car some 220 meters down the road.
Driver Sibusiso Siyaya, 28, was today found guilty of 20 counts of murder over the horrific crash in Kwazulu Natal in 2022, and will face sentencing on Wednesday.
Causing outrage across the country, Siyaya was said to receive a cash bonus for the number of loads he could deliver in a day and on his 16th consecutive shift.
The driver Siyaya accelerated along the N2 highway with 34 tons of coal and overtook 15 vehicles
Shocking dash cam video shows the heavy vehicle hurtling down the wrong side of the road, overcoming traffic.
Other vehicles are forced onto the shoulder as the truck moves down the road.
Truck crashes into car trying to leave South Africa’s N2 highway
The reckless explosion ends with the driver crashing into a Toyota carrying 18 children
Two years after the horror accident in Pongola, the driver finally faces justice for murder, reckless and negligent driving and fleeing the scene of the accident.
At the trial, a court heard how the driver had even removed the number plate from his Oaf HGV so that traffic cameras on the road could not detect that he had breached the speed limits.
He was said to be motivated to make money and is seen on video speeding away from the accident scene after crashing into the car on the N2 road towards Gordons Bay.
At the top of the Itshelejuba Pass, all heavy vehicles are ordered by law to come to a complete stop and engage the lowest gear before setting off again to the other side of the busy highway towards the coast.
But the video showed how Siyaya, from Jozini village in KZN province, drove straight over the top of the hill and when he encountered a line of slow traffic, he simply swerved to cross the double white lines.
Footage shows it increased its speed to more than 60 mph on the wrong side of the road, forcing oncoming traffic to swerve out of its path to avoid a collision.
In the 38-second video, he can be seen illegally overtaking 15 vehicles, including eight heavy double-trailer coal trucks similar to his own.
The trucker’s luck ran out 26 seconds into the video when he collided with the Toyota truck that was heading towards him on the right side of the road.
Eighteen schoolchildren returning home after class were horribly killed along with the driver and passenger when their vehicle ran under the front of the truck and was pushed 220 meters backwards along the main road.
The truck carrying two heavily loaded side-loading coal cars manages to swerve to the right of the road, but the truck remains trapped underneath, in a shower of sparks.
The heavy vehicle is then seen leaving the road before the driver and a woman who was in the taxi with him jumped from the scene and ran away.
The fugitive driver turned himself in and was arrested the next day by police. Siyaya has been to custody from September 2022.
He tried to claim that his brakes had failed and that he fled because he feared that the locals would kill him in case of immediate justice.
But traffic accident investigators found the brakes were working and GPS tracking and dash cam showed he was in control of the truck during its fatal 1.2km downward journey.
Judge Garth Davis, summing up the case, said evidence showed he was driving at high speed on the wrong side of the road, forcing other vehicles to swerve off the road to save their lives.
Only one student survived the impact but died later in hospital.
Some 42 witnesses were expected to testify in the intense trial, where Siyaya previously begged not guilty.
The Pongola High Court was told that the schoolchildren who died were between 5 and 12 years old, according to local sources. mediaand that a mother had lost three of her children in the accident and two other children while being taken home by ferry.
Judge Davis said: “During the descent, records show that you had a steady hand and were in full control of the vehicle and swerved into the opposite lane when in congestion.”
“You crossed the white double lane and for 1.2 km there was no visible attempt to return to the correct lane and, driving at a speed of up to 105 km/h, you collided with the LDV.
«During the descent, numerous vehicles were seen quickly veering off the road or entering the emergency lane to avoid the truck and a head-on collision until the fatal accident occurred.
“There was no mechanical problem with the truck and you had made a clear voluntary decision to cross the double white line to avoid congestion and then drive at dangerous speeds.
“He never attempted to return to the lane and after the accident he fled the scene and did not render any assistance and did not report the accident to police,” he said.
The horrible images of what happened show the Toyota car completely crushed by the truck.
Driver Sibusiso Siyaya was today convicted of 20 counts of murder over the 2022 crash
The driver continues to push on the wrong side of the road after the terrible accident.
Siyaya then pulls up behind another truck before veering off the road and stopping.
Finding Siyaya guilty of murder, he added: “The video shows a level of dangerous driving that may be unparalleled and the consequences of your actions were clearly irrelevant to you.”
“Your actions went beyond conscious negligence,” he told the trucker, convicting him of 20 counts of murder and one each of reckless driving and failure to report the accident.
The court was told that Siyaya worked as a heavy vehicle driver at BaoBao Projects and, according to evidence given at trial, was paid generous bonuses for delivering more loads.
The court was adjourned for sentencing until today as relatives and friends of the 18 students who died on their way home in Pongola from four local schools broke down in tears and consoled each other.
A mass funeral was held in the grieving city in September 2022, attended by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, Police Minister Bheki Cele and Education Minister Dr Reginah Mhaule.