Eight people were killed and 30 were injured, 18 seriously, when a bus overturned on between Indwe and Dordrecht in the Eastern Cape on Saturday, according to Arrive Alive.
Spokesperson Tshepo Machaea had earlier said that seven people were killed, but another person died later at the Dordrecht hospital. The dead are two men, three women and three children under the age of 10.
”Nine of the 18 seriously injured passengers will later be transferred to East London as their condition is very serious,” Machaea said.
Four children were among the injured and one of them had not been identified. Authorities believed the child’s parents were among the dead. The driver was not hurt.
The bus was transporting 72 passengers from Cape Town to Qumbu, Tsolo, Mount Frere and other areas.
Machaea said the accident happened after a tyre burst on the vehicle. ”A right-front tyre burst, causing the driver to lose control, and the bus overturned.”
Another bus, from the same company, was sent to transport the 34 surviving passengers.
On Sunday, five people were killed in an accident involving a petrol tanker that collided with a car on the N1 near Polokwane, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported. The tanker burst into flames.
The N1 north was closed about 40km outside Polokwane. Traffic going towards the Beitbridge border post was being diverted via the R81. — Sapa