Several emergency services join forces at bus crash
Sadly, eight people died at the scene and another person died in hospital
Chaos erupted on Sunday morning when a bus veered off the R33 Vryheid/Paulpietersburg road and ended up overturning down an embankment. Transporting between 70 and 78 passengers, the bus was on its way back from the Moses Madhida Stadium, where they attended an ANC Manifesto Launch. When emergency services arrived at the scene, people were scattered across the field, with a few of the passengers trapped under the bus.
Operations area manager Frikkie Bekker from KwaZulu Private Ambulance Services and his team, together with AbaQulusi Fire & Rescue, quickly set up their equipment to extricate the passengers who were still trapped. Urgency called for community members, rescue workers and emergency services to also be dispatched from Paulpietersburg and Piet Retief, due to the severity of the crash. All local ambulance services, as well as those from neighbouring towns, were dispatched to attend to the injured passengers. Another bus was requested to transport those who were not hurt or only sustained minor injuries.
Sadly, eight people died at the scene and another person died in hospital. According to speculation from reliable sources, a possible cause of the accident may have been driver fatigue, since no other vehicles were involved in the crash. However, a thorough investigation will determine the exact cause and is still ongoing. The road between Vryheid and Paulpietersburg is covered with potholes and emergency services attend to accidents on this road weekly. However, at the location of this specific crash, there were not any visible potholes. Visibility on this road is also a problem, due to regular misty conditions.
The mayor of Zululand District Municipality, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has expressed his condolences to the families of the nine deceased, as well as to the ANC. He wishes those who were injured a speedy recovery.
“It was sad to wake up to such devastating news in our district. May the families be comforted during this time, and a speedy recovery to those injured,” said Buthelezi.
At the beginning of the month, another two bus accidents occurred in the North West, as well as in the Free State, where six learners died. In December last year, another seven people died in a bus crash in Limpopo on the Long Tom Pass while they were on their way to a music competition when the driver lost control and veered off the road.
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The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.
