At least 10 people were killed, 10 critically injured and another 23 seriously injured in a bus accident on the R34 near Ulundi on Saturday, KwaZulu-Natal emergency services reported.
Details of the accident were sketchy, but the provincial emergency medical rescue services reported that the accident, involving a Greyhound bus, took place on the R34 between Melmoth and Vryheid at the turn-off to Ulundi.
An emergency official said that one person was airlifted to Ngwelezana Hospital in Empangeni, while most of the injured were taken to hospitals in the Ulundi area. A fixed-wing aircraft had also been dispatched to the accident scene.
KwaZulu-Natal transport spokesperson Colin Govender said the double-decker bus collided with a Nissan 1400 bakkie. Initial reports from the scene were that the driver of the bakkie had lost control of his vehicle and swerved into the oncoming traffic. In its bid to avoid the bakkie, the bus swerved and careened off the road into dense bush.
The bus was on its way to Richards Bay from Johannesburg.
Greyhound’s Durban depot manager, Srenika Royeppen, confirmed that an accident had taken place. She advised people who were expecting relatives and friends from Johannesburg to call Greyhound on Tel: 031 334 9711.
Greyhound has one bus daily that leaves from Pretoria at 6.15am and arrives in Richards Bay at 6pm. It then travels on to Durban, arriving in the city at 8.55pm.
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal has urged the provincial department of transport to speed up an investigation into the cause of the bus crash. ANC spokesperson Mtholephi Mthimkhulu also called on all road users to be vigilant to prevent road carnage.
”The ANC conveys its heartfelt condolences to all those who lost their loved ones in this accident,” he said. — Sapa