Passengers survive head-on crash but die minutes later

Nine South African minibus passengers who survived a head-on collision in heavy fog were killed moments later when a truck crashed into the accident scene.

Twelve others sustained injuries in the collision.

The crash in Thornville, 50 miles from the Indian Ocean city of Durban, began when a driver lost control of his minibus after taking a sharp turn and slammed head-on into a truck.

As the survivors of the initial accident tried to remove victims trapped in the bus, another truck swerved to avoid the crippled truck and ploughed into the crowd, killing nine people.

"It resembled a battlefield, it was the worst accident I have seen in recent years," said traffic police spokesman Vijen Murugan.