Limpopo crash survivors have revealed that the bus was overloaded and was a disaster waiting to happen. The crash on the N1 North near Louis Trichardt took forty-two lives. The ill-fated bus, believed to have been on a long-haul route to Zimbabwe and Malawi, met its tragic end when it veered off the road along a steep mountain pass and overturned.
The human cost was devastating, with eighteen women, seventeen men, and seven children confirmed dead. A further six passengers are fighting for their lives in a critical condition, while thirty-one suffered serious injuries and twelve sustained minor wounds.
One survivor, receiving treatment at Siloam Hospital, provided a chillingly simple explanation for the disaster. He stated,
“When we left in East London, it was full. The bus started in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). It picked up more people in East London.”
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This claim of severe overloading was echoed by another passenger, a regular user of the service, who confirmed the vehicle was packed beyond its intended capacity. She revealed,
“We were already complaining when the bus left and we were told that we will get space when other people get off.”
Limpopo Crash Survivors Reveal The Bus Was Overloaded
Perhaps even more alarming than the initial overloading are the allegations that traffic authorities had multiple opportunities to intervene. Survivors report that traffic officers stopped the bus on several occasions during its journey, yet it was allowed to continue its fateful course. The male survivor from Siloam Hospital expressed his frustration, stating,
“The bus was stopped several times by traffic officials on the route, who did nothing.”
As the journey progressed, the sense of foreboding grew amongst the passengers. Another survivor recalled that after passing Louis Trichardt, complaints about the driver’s excessive speed began to circulate, while a separate passenger remembers smelling what they believed to be a clutch plate burning, a telltale sign of mechanical distress.
In response to the tragedy, Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba, accompanied by MECs for social development, transport, and health, visited the grim accident scene and the hospitals where the injured are being treated. The premier addressed the immediate priorities in the aftermath.
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She confirmed,
“The survivors will be prioritised and they will be visited in hospital.” She added that a second, sombre priority was “to retrieve and store the remains of those who died.”
The visit from provincial leadership offered a small measure of solace, but for the survivors and the families of the deceased, the questions surrounding the preventable nature of this crash will linger long after the initial shock has faded.
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The post Limpopo Crash Survivors Reveal The Bus Was Overloaded appeared first on iHarare News.
