Update: Metro sets up JOC to assist families of horror bus accident
Families of residents involved in the fatal bus accident in the Free State on Sunday can get up-to-date information on their family members.
Families, of the bus victims who were involved in a horrific accident that claimed 11 Ekurhuleni residents’ lives, on Sunday, now have a central place to receive information concerning their loved ones.
The ANC Ekurhuleni volunteers were returning from the ANC manifesto launch in Port Elizabeth, when the accident occurred on the N1 highway, between Ventersburg and Winburg in the Free State.
The metro has established a Joint Operation Centre (JOC) to coordinate information regarding the accident.
The JOC is based at the Palm Ridge Fire Station which is closer to Katlehong and Vosloorus where the passengers come from.
Family members can visit the JOC or call 011 999-3796 to check the list of people who were on the bus.
“The JOC stands ready to provide up-to-date information on the status of all passengers involved in the fatal accident including those that are still hospitalised in the Free State, and the patients that were transferred to our local hospitals.
“We are happy to report that a bus carrying 27 patients with minor injuries arrived just after midnight.
“These patients were allowed to go home after observation,” said member of the mayoral committee on community safety, Clr Vivian Chauke.
The metro has chaplains and counsellors on standby to assist family members through this trauma.
On Sunday the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni Clr Mondli Gungubele expressed shock regarding the bus accident.
“There is no way to describe how I feel right now.
“These comrades were with us yesterday as we launched our manifesto and today they are no more.
“May their souls rest in peace,” Gungubele said.
“The loss of one life is a disaster enough.
“This is devastation.”
The mayor sent a team of senior emergency and disaster officials led by the city’s COO to Ventersburg in the Free State to determine if there is a role the metro can play in the accident.
Later, Gungubele himself travelled to the scene of the accident and visited the accident survivors at various hospitals.
Gungubele sent his condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the survivors a speedy recovery.
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