Efe Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Updated Friday, March 29, 2024-02:34
About 45 people died last Thursday after
a passenger bus
crashed into an abyss near the South African town of
Limpopo
, about 380 kilometers north of Johannesburg.
According to the
Daily Sun newspaper,
the accident occurred after the bus, which
was transporting some parishioners heading for an Easter pilgrimage,
fell from the Mamatlakala Bridge to a depth of about 50 meters, near a point known as Mokopane.
After the fall,
the bus was consumed by flames
and 45 of its 46 occupants died almost instantly. The only survivor,
an 8-year-old girl,
was immediately taken to a hospital.
The
Daily Sun
reported that, according to police accounts,
the driver lost control
and crashed into the bridge barriers, causing the vehicle to go over and fall to the ground, where it caught fire.
Rescue operations continued late into the night of Thursday, March 28, when
some bodies were burned beyond recognition,
others were trapped in the rubble, and others were scattered around the scene.
The bus was supposedly headed from Gaborone, in neighboring Botswana, to Moria, near the town of Polokwane.