Overview
- Police report at least 12 children dead and several critically injured after an apparent overtaking collision between a school minibus and a truck in Vanderbijlpark, with President Cyril Ramaphosa offering condolences.
- Near the A9 at Schleiz, a coach carrying Berlin students broke through a guardrail and slid down an embankment, leaving about 40 children and five adults lightly hurt and one adult severely injured and airlifted.
- Overnight on the A8 near Merklingen, three lorries collided at a congestion tail, seriously injuring two drivers, one life‑threatening, and forcing a full closure toward Stuttgart until early morning.
- On the A7 near Soltau, a 23‑year‑old driver died after crashing unbraked into the rear of a truck, causing a brief full closure and significant damage, according to police.
- Separate crashes across Germany added to the toll, including a red‑light collision on the B71 in Bockel that seriously injured a mother, her nine‑month‑old baby and another driver, an A39 wreck near Winsen that trapped a woman for an hour, and two Bochum bus incidents that injured eight.