Bus plunges off a bridge, killing 45 people; an 8-year-old is the only survivor
MMAMATLAKALA, South Africa — Forensic investigators in South Africa were searching Friday for the bodies of victims after a bus carrying pilgrims to an Easter gathering plunged off a bridge and caught fire. An 8-year-old child was the only survivor of the crash that killed at least 45.
Hours after the Thursday afternoon crash, smoke seeped from the mangled, burned wreck underneath the concrete bridge. Authorities said it appeared that the driver lost control and the bus ploughed into the barriers along the side of the bridge and then over the edge. The driver was among the dead.
The crash happened in a mountainous region near the town of Mokopane, which is about 125 miles north of the South African capital, Pretoria.
The Limpopo provincial government said the bus, which was carrying pilgrims from Botswana, veered off the Mmamatlakala bridge and plunged 165 feet into a ravine.
It said many bodies were burned beyond recognition and trapped inside the vehicle, while other victims had been thrown from the bus.
“We were at the scene,” said local resident Simone Mayema, who said he was one of the first to arrive. “We tried to help (but) there was nothing we could do because there was flames.”
The investigators worked through the wreckage early Friday, but while some bodies had been recovered, others were believed to be still inside what was left of the charred bus, which was almost crushed flat.
There was no new information on the status of the child who somehow survived the horrific crash. Officials at the hospital where the child was taken declined to give an update. Government officials were expected to hold a press conference later Friday.