POLOKWANE – Forty-three patients from Tzaneen who visited the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital found themselves stranded after a part of the bus they had travelled in exploded.
Upon investigation, the driver of the bus, which belongs to the provincial department of health, found that the batteries of the bus caused the explosion.
According to the driver, who wished to remain anonymous, there had been several complaints to the department that the bus was not roadworthy, but the complaints fell on deaf ears. The driver told Review that he could not remember the last time the bus was serviced or inspected and that he was not surprised that the incident happened.
“I am only grateful that it happened while the bus was parked and not on George’s Valley pass, where it could have led to an accident,” the man said.
He said the explosion occurred when some wires on the batteries had a short and exploded.
During the explosion, the door of the bus was damaged and had to be fixed with a piece of wire to remain closed for the journey back to Tzaneen.
One of the patients, Daniel Morere, said he was scared to get back on the bus as he feared that something would happen again and this time he and the other patients would not be so lucky.
Department spokesperson, Macks Lesufi, could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print.
