A Michaelhouse pupil died and 47 others were injured when a bus carrying four of the school’s U16 soccer teams overturned on the N3 just outside Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.

The teams were travelling to play against Kearsney‚ on Botha’s Hill‚ west of Durban.

It later emerged that Themba Dloti had passed away.

‘Our investigators are on the scene, conducting their preliminary investigation in an effort to find out what caused the accident,’ said Michaelhouse spokesperson Murray Witherspoon. ‘The road has been closed to traffic while this is done. We are trying to open the road as soon as possible.’

Michaelhouse, in Balgowan in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, was like a ghost town as news of the crash spread.

‘Everything stopped,’ said Witherspoon. ‘You could look out on the field and just see sports gear left where it stood. Everyone has rallied in the chapel.’