/ 7 October 1999

KEI DRIVER’s BLOOD TESTED

EAST LONDON police have confirmed they have taken a blood sample from the driver of the bus that plunged from a Transkei mountain pass on Sunday night, killing 19 people. They said they have forwarded it to a medical legal laboratory in Cape Town for analysis. The move follows driver Khawulezile Mase’s hospital bed confession on Monday to Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile that he had been drinking on the day of accident. Survivors, 47 of whom are being treated in East London’s Frere Hospital for serious injuries, told Stofile that Mase had been drunk and speeding and ignored complaints and appeals to hand over the steering wheel.