I was motionless for an hour because my arm was trapped, recounts ANC bus crash survivor

A Mpumalanga woman has recounted how she had to stay almost motionless for about an hour after a bus accident left her arm entrapped.

Samkelisiwe Manana, 32, was among the 70 ANC supporters travelling back to Mpumalanga from the ANC election manifesto launch at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban when their bus overturned on the R33 in Dumbe, northern KZN, in the early hours of Sunday.

Eight passengers died while 57 others were treated at Vryheid Hospital and Dumbe community healthcare centre before they were discharged.

Manana is one of four survivors still receiving treatment in hospital, three of whom are at Vryheid Hospital. The other was transferred to Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

I’ve been told that one of those who passed away was from my ward. It pains me that not all of the people who left home with us managed to come back to their families in one piece. It hurts

—  Lindokuhle Mlangeni, crash survivor

The unemployed mother-of-one told TimesLIVE Premium on Monday she was not aware of the events leading up to the crash as she was asleep.

“When I woke up the bus was lying on its side and I was trapped. I couldn’t move because it had fallen on the side I was sitting in. My left arm was trapped and it took long to rescue me because the bus needed to be cut,” she said.

“The emergency services could not remove me so they called others who would cut the bus so my arm could be moved safely.”

Manana, whose left arm was heavily bandaged, will be transferred to Madadeni Hospital for an operation on Tuesday.

Lindokuhle Mlangeni, 27, said she was also asleep when the bus overturned but confirmed the driver had taken a few hours to rest before leaving Durban.

“We left Moses Mabhida Stadium around 10pm, even though the launch ended around 5pm because the driver said he needed to rest,” she said.

Her family had been in touch but could not come to see her because of the distance from her home in Mayflower, Mpumalanga, she said.

She sustained minor injuries on her face and a broken arm, which she said must be operated on before she can be discharged.

“I suffered a fractured bone on my right arm, so I have to be operated on and have a metal plate implanted.”

They were aware that some people lost their lives, she said, even though the emergency services “did not take long to arrive” at the scene.

“I’ve been told that one of those who passed away was from my ward. It pains me that not all of the people who left home with us managed to come back to their families in one piece. It hurts.”

KZN health MEC Nomagugu Simelane and her Mpumalanga counterpart Sasekani Manzini visited the three survivors receiving care at Vryheid Hospital.

Simelane commended the efficiency of the emergency and healthcare workers.

“I must appreciate the response time of our team in KZN and the co-ordination of our health workers because they were able to respond as quickly as we expected them to. Had that not happened, we don’t know what could’ve been the outcome, so we’re appreciative of the work that they’ve done,” she said.

“We also want to send our condolences to the families of the eight comrades that passed on in the accident. We are keeping them in our prayers.”

Manzini said: “We were looking at transferring them to Mpumalanga so that they can be closer to their families but we’ve agreed that they will get the treatment here [in KZN] because we don’t want to disrupt and delay their operations. Once they are ready for discharge, they will be handed over to us in Mpumalanga so we can continue to give them the necessary treatment.”

She said she would work with the ANC in Mpumalanga to assist the families with burials.

The postmortems of the eight deceased, which include two siblings, is expected to be concluded on Monday.