CAPE TOWN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 18 people were killed in a bus collision in South Africa on Tuesday, paramedics said.
The collision involved a bus and a truck on a rural road outside Machadodorp, Mpumalanga Province, emergency service ER24 said.
Previous reports said 11 people were killed. But rescuers found more bodies beneath the overturned bus, bringing the death toll to 18.
"We have removed all the bodies from the wreckage and we counted 16 bodies at the scene, then two more died in hospital," said Joseph Mabuza from the provincial Community Safety Department.
The bus, carrying mostly miners from a nearby mine, collided with the truck, police said.
The South African National Civic Organization (SANCO) called for an investigation into the cause of the accident.
"If negligence or reckless driving was the cause, whoever is responsible must face the full wrath of the law," the organization said.
The accident followed another horror crash on Monday in which six people were killed and 50 others injured when a bus collided with a stationary truck near Bloemfontein, Free State Province.
Road carnage is common, particularly during holidays, in South Africa, which is among the countries that have the highest road fatalities.
The country has more than 700,000 crashes a year on average, with three children dying every day in road accidents, according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
