The driver of a bus in which 12 people, including three children, died and 34 were injured in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday was caught driving with his blood alcohol level seven times over the legal limit last year, it has emerged.
Police Superintendent Joshua Gwala said the driver of the double-decker bus lost control of the vehicle and it overturned, slamming into pillars under a bridge on the N3 south at about 5am. ”The bus was badly smashed. The whole roof was crushed when it hit the pillars,” he said.
The upper deck on the right-hand-side took most of the impact, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe.
Provincial transport minister Bheki Cele said he was ”very disappointed” that the bus company, SA Roadlink, had allowed the driver behind a steering wheel again.
The 34-year-old driver has been charged with culpable homicide and reckless driving, he said in a statement, making no comment about allegations that the man had been speeding at the time of the crash.
Cele said three unroadworthy SA Roadlink buses were suspended in the three hours that he was on the accident scene. These included the wreck itself, a bus stopped in Pietermaritzburg and another inspected at Midway en route to collect uninjured passengers at the accident scene.
”We will be sending out the road traffic inspectorate to this bus-company depot to inspect all their buses,” he said.
The provincial minister visited some of the injured in hospital. Many had to be extricated from the wreckage by rescue workers. They were taken to the Northdale, Greys and St Anne’s hospitals.
”I saw two dead bodies — an elderly man and a boy flying out of the bus,” said passenger Nomthandazo Thusi, who had been on her way home to Durban with her daughters Nonjabulo (8) and Siyanda (3) after job-hunting in Johannesburg. ”Everyone was screaming hysterically as dead bodies hit the ground and fell on the pavement and ground.”
She had been watching an on-board movie at the time of the crash.
Earlier, she told another passenger she thought the driver was in the wrong lane because she could hear the vehicle’s tyres hitting the road reflectors.
SA Roadlink sales and marketing manager Lee Sarugaser said: ”I personally assisted in boarding the passengers of that bus last night. You know how I feel.”
Speaking before Cele made his statement, Sarugaser said initial indications were that an airbag on the vehicle’s suspension had burst, causing it to swerve uncontrollably to the right and hit the barrier.
Sarugaser said the bus driver took over the wheel after a stop at Balmoral, in the Free State, and was not likely to have been fatigued. The bus had made one more stop, at Harrismith, for passengers to get refreshments. — Sapa