The Department of Transport has launched an investigation into the company that owns the bus involved in a crash which claimed 21 lives outside Louis Trichardt in Limpopo on Monday.
Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga visited some of the survivors at Elim Hospital, over 60 survivors were taken to various hospitals after sustaining severe injuries.
The survivors of the crash told Chikunga that the bus driver was allegedly reprimanded by passengers for reckless driving before the accident happened. They told Chikunga that the bus was overloaded, with some passengers standing.
The survivors also say the driver was overtaking in a dangerous zone when the head-on collision with a cash-in-transit vehicle occurred.
The survivors also say the bus veered off the road before overturning multiple times in the valley.
Bus crash in Limpopo kills 21 people
Chikunga says the testimonies from the survivors suggest that the bus might have also not been roadworthy.
“What they are saying is indicating that the bus might not be roadworthy, but we are definitely gonna do an investigation to get what transpired, but definitely that’s what the investigation is about they seem to be saying the bus driver was overtaking,” says Chikunga.
Meanwhile, Limpopo Social Development Spokesperson Joshua Kwapa says they have sent a team of social workers to assist affected families.
Kwapa says, “We dispatched social workers to provide psychosocial support. We are providing those injured, who are at the hospital together with the physiologist, we are providing counselling to those families.”
The drivers of both vehicles are among the survivors being treated in hospital.
The families of the deceased have called on the government to assist with funeral arrangements.
Deputy Minister of Transport is in Limpopo visiting the victims of the horrific bus crash https://t.co/hMGYqHK4Mg #ArriveAlive #BusCrash @Dotransport @TransportLimCom pic.twitter.com/R61ctVRscU
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) February 15, 2023
Bus collision claims twenty lives on the N1 towards Musina
MEC Radzilani saddened by a collision that claimed 20 lives in Makhado https://t.co/sRtKQRsR1X#ArriveAlive #Collision @TransportLimCom pic.twitter.com/K1MseFV7XZ
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) February 14, 2023
https://t.co/wNRJEuIRtB#ArriveAlive @TransportLimCom @TruckAndFreight pic.twitter.com/3M4qpl7hIe
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) February 14, 2023