A bus crash in northern South Africa killed 45 pilgrims travelling from Botswana for Easter festivities last Thursday, authorities said, with the sole survivor an eight-year-old girl, currently being treated in a hospital.
South African police said 31 female and 15 male Botswana passengers died in the crash, after the driver lost control and collided with barriers on a bridge near Mamatlakala. The bus went over the bridge and hit the ground below, catching fire.
Reuters TV footage from the scene showed a wreck of mangled metal from the bus amid scattered clothes and other belongings.
“Authorities are still combing the scene for more bodies. Only 34 bodies have been found, thus far. Of the 34, only nine are identifiable,” the police said in a statement
All the victims were from the village of Molepolole near the Botswana capital, Gaborone, it said. Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition, while others were trapped inside the debris or strewn about the scene. Authorities had begun a “process to identify and repatriate the remains of the deceased”, the police statement further read.
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, sent his condolences to the families of the victims, his office said in a statement. The young girl who survived was receiving medical attention at a nearby hospital, the Limpopo region’s Department of Transport said.
