The bus was overloaded, say survivors of N1 crash that claimed 42 lives

Passengers who were on the bus that crashed on the N1 North near Louis Trichardt on Sunday say the vehicle was overloaded when it left Gqeberha.

The accident, which claimed the lives of 42 people, including seven children, occurred when the bus, believed to have been headed to Zimbabwe and Malawi, veered off the road along a steep mountain pass and overturned.

Eighteen women, 17 men and seven children were killed, while six passengers were critically injured, 31 sustained serious injuries and 12 were slightly injured.

The injured were taken to the Louis Trichardt, Siloam and Elim hospitals for treatment. One critically injured child was airlifted to Tshilidzini Hospital.

Limpopo premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba, MEC for social development Florence Radzilani, MEC for transport and community safety Violet Mathye and MEC for health Dieketseng Mashego visited the accident scene on Monday.

They also visited survivors in various hospitals.

One of the survivors who was admitted to the Siloam hospital said the bus was overloaded when it left the Eastern Cape and some passengers were standing as they didn’t have seats.

“When we left in East London, it was full. The bus started in Port Elizabeth. It picked up more people in East London. We also stopped in Johannesburg, but we didn’t load there,” said another survivor.

The man explained how the bus lost control, hitting a curb and rolling.

He added that the bus was stopped several times by traffic officials on the route, who did nothing.

He said after passing Louis Trichardt, some passengers complained about the speed at which the bus was being driven.

Another passenger recalls smelling what appeared to be a clutch plate burning.

A woman who uses the bus regularly said she could not confirm how many passengers were on the bus, but it was full.

She said there were three drivers who took turns to drive, and confirmed that the bus was stopped by officers on the way.

“We were already complaining when the bus left and we were told that we will get space when other people get off,” she said.

Ramathuba said the survivors would be prioritised and they would be visited in hospital.

A second priority was to retrieve and store the remains of those who died.

“All bodies are stored at Silome and one baby who died in Tshilidzini. We will start as soon as Wednesday to focus on that,” she said.

She said international relations and cooperation minister Ronald Lamola would liaise with his counterparts in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

“We don’t know who these people are, some of them don’t have documentation. It’s only the survivors who can tell us who they are,” she said.

Ramathuba said the first step would be to ascertain how many people were on the bus and whether they were Zimbabwean or Malawian nationals.

“After that, we will be able to look for the families working with the Zimbabwean authorities,” she said.

A representative from the bus company, DNC Coaches, told Newzroom Afrika the bus left Gqeberha on Saturday at about 3pm bound for Harare carrying Zimbabwean and Malawi nationals.

The representative said they were going to transfer those going to Malawi to another bus once they arrive in Harare.

“It’s so sad to receive such news. To all the families who lost their relatives, we are very sorry. Our company representatives are on the way,” he said.

He said they are trying to get in touch with the next of kin of those affected by the accident.