45 people died in a bus crash in Limpopo on Thursday, surpassing the road death toll of the 2023 Easter long weekend. An eight-year-old child was the lone survivor. (Facebook/Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety)
- Forty-five people died in a bus crash in Limpopo on Thursday.
- The only survivor was an eight-year-old child.
- Last Easter, 41 people died over the entire four-day long weekend.
A single bus crash in Limpopo, in which a child was the only survivor, has resulted in more deaths than the entire Easter long weekend last year.
On Thursday, 45 people died in a bus crash near Mamatlakala. One person was seriously injured.
The sole survivor of the crash was an eight-year-old child.
Limpopo Transport and Community Safety MEC Florence Radzilani confirmed that there were 46 people on board the bus, including the driver. She said the surviving child was receiving medical attention at a nearby hospital.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) report on road deaths over the 2023 Easter long weekend, Limpopo recorded 41 deaths for the four-day period.
Last Easter saw a 64% increase on the 2022 Easter period, in which 25 people died on the province’s roads.
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RMTC had not commented at the time of publication. Their response will be added once received.
News24 previously reported that authorities were on high alert for increased levels of traffic over the long weekend.
Routes that are expected to see an increase in vehicles include the N1 from Gauteng to Limpopo; the N3 from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal; the N4 from Gauteng to Mpumalanga; the N1 from Gauteng to Bloemfontein and Cape Town; and the N2 from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape.
Last year, Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga announced that there had been 185 accidents, which had resulted in 225 deaths. In 2022, 135 crashes resulted in 161 fatalities.
It is believed that on Thursday, the bus driver lost control, colliding with barriers on the bridge, causing the bus to go over the bridge, catching fire when it hit the ground below, said Chikunga.
The bus plummeted about 50 metres, Radzilani said.
She added:
Rescue operations continued until the late hours of Thursday evening, as some bodies were burned beyond recognition, others trapped inside the debris and others scattered on the scene.
The cause of the crash was still under investigation, authorities said.
It is understood that the bus was carrying pilgrims from Botswana to Moria for an Easter gathering.
This is the first year since the pandemic that the Zion Christian Church, one of the biggest churches in the region, doing the annual Easter pilgrimage to Moria.