¡¡ JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Death toll in a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a truck in South Africa on Saturday morning has increased to 24, plus six critically injured,according to the South African media.

    The accident occurred on the N2 freeway outside Port Elizabeth,a southern port of South Africa, at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) when the busand the truck carrying dairy products crashed into each other, leaving the bus driver and his passengers killed instantly, the SAPA news agency reported.

    At least six people, including the driver of the truck, were seriously injured and have been rushed to nearby hospitals in PortElizabeth.

    The cause of the accident was not immediately known. But a local official has blamed the bus driver for overloading, according to a report of the national broadcaster SABC.

    Thobile Mhlahlo, top safety official of the Eastern Cape Province, indicated that the 16-seater minibus taxi had loaded at least 24 people.

    "Clearly we have to work around the whole question of the taxi industry, in particular the drivers of taxis," Mhlahlo was quoted as saying.

    The minibuses are a primary mode of transportation for millionsof South Africans every day, which, however, could turn the journey life-threatening sometimes.

    Transport Department's statistics in 2004 showed about 1,000 people were killed in minibus-taxi-involved accidents a year across the country.

    South Africa's road-vehicle collision and fatality rates compare poorly with those of most other countries, according to the country's road safety awareness advocator Arrive Alive Campaign.

    Every year, about 10,000 people are killed and 150,000 injured in approximately 500,000 accidents, said the organization. Enditem