An eight-year-old child was the sole survivor after a bus carrying 46 people fell 50 metres from a bridge in South Africa into a ravine and caught fire.
The child, who has not been named, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the transport ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
The passengers were pilgrims travelling from Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, to an Easter service at St Engenas Zionist Christian church in the town of Moria in the north of South Africa.
“It is alleged that the driver lost control, colliding with barriers on the bridge causing the bus to go over the bridge and hitting the ground, where it caught fire,” a government statement said.
Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition and others were trapped by the debris or scattered over the crash scene, in the country’s northeast about 190 miles (300km) north of Johannesburg, the department said, with rescue efforts continuing into the night.
The bus – which was towing a trailer, according to broadcaster SABC – plunged off the Mmamatlakala bridge linking two hillsides between Mokopane and Marken in Limpopo province, the state’s transport department said. The vehicle fell 50 metres (164ft) onto rocky ground below, it said.
The Zionist Christian church has its headquarters in Moria and its Easter pilgrimage attracts hundreds of thousands of people from across South Africa and neighbouring countries. This year was the first Easter pilgrimage to Moria since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bus had a Botswana licence plate, local authorities said, but the nationalities of the passengers were still being checked.
The transport minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, who was already in the area as part of a road safety campaign, went to the scene of the crash and said the South African government would help repatriate the bodies and conduct a full inquiry into the cause of the crash.
Chikunga extended her “heartfelt condolences to the families affected by the tragic bus crash”. She said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.
“We continue to urge responsible driving at all times with heightened alertness as more people are on our roads this Easter weekend.”
Although South Africa has one of Africa’s most developed road networks, it has one of the worst safety records.
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, sent his condolences to Botswana and pledged support to the country, his office said in a statement. Hours before the crash, he had appealed to South Africans to take care when travelling during the Easter week.
“Let’s do our best to make this a safe Easter. Easter does not have to be a time where we sit back and wait to see statistics on tragedy or injuries on our roads,” he said in a statement. (The Guardian)
