Survivors recall mayhem during the 1985 Westdene Dam bus crash

The 1985 Westdene Dam disaster’s toll was high: of the 72 passengers, 42 drowned inside the submerged bus and two were declared dead shortly after being taken to a nearby hospital.

The remaining 30, including the bus driver, were rescued.

A witness said the bus initially stayed upright but then sank almost immediately with everything happening in about 30 seconds.

A survivor recounted years later that the passengers were in high spirits and the bus seemed to be travelling at a higher than normal speed, when it suddenly swerved and went nose first into the dam.

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She swam out a back window and made it to the top of the bus, which was covered by about 30cm of water, before attempting to turn around for her friends and sister – but stopped when she noticed they were “pale and looked like mannequins”.

Another said most of the pupils were hysterical and panicked.

A witness, attempting to help, said pupils were coming to the surface in ones and twos, but after a few minutes they stopped coming to the surface.

About 3 000 people, including dozens of tearful and hysterical parents, gathered near the scene as doctors and nurses battled to revive children pulled from the submerged bus.

Police said 40 pupils drowned in the bus.

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