Bus accident survivors speak out, 7 children among 42 people killed, including 10-month-old baby (VIDEO)

LIMPOPO – Harrowing accounts are emerging from survivors of the Limpopo bus crash that claimed the lives of 42 people, including seven children and a 10-month-old baby. The devastating incident, which occurred on the N1 near Louis Trichardt, has left families shattered and communities in mourning.

Chaoma Mukondiona, a 25-year-old man from Mashonaland in Zimbabwe, recounted the terrifying moments leading up to the crash. He said the driver had been speeding and narrowly avoided a head-on collision, prompting petrified passengers to scold him.

“I saw it with my own eyes. The bus was travelling at high speed and he was getting into a head-on collision but managed to control the bus,” Mukondiona said. “You must drive carefully, we don't want trouble,” he recalled the passengers shouting.

Mukondiona, who boarded the bus in East London, Eastern Cape, said he was forced to sleep on the floor of the overcrowded bus as there were no available seats. “The last thing I remember before falling asleep was that the bus was travelling at high speed. Then I woke up in hospital. I was terrified.”

It is believed that approximately 91 people were travelling in the bus when it overturned on the N1 near Louis Trichardt, in a mountainous section of the road. Forty-two passengers died, and 49 were taken to hospital with injuries.

Thilivhali Muavha, spokesperson for Limpopo premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba, said, “According to preliminary reports, the bus is believed to have been transporting passengers from Zimbabwe and Malawi who were travelling from the Eastern Cape to their home countries when it veered off the road along a steep mountain pass and plunged down an embankment.”

Mukondiona, who works at a poultry factory in Mthatha, said he had been hesitant to board the overcrowded bus but felt compelled to travel home for important reasons, including sitting for an exam and buying a cow for a ceremony for his late grandfather. He lost his academic certificates, R2,500 cash, and clothes in the crash.

Despite his losses, Mukondiona expressed gratitude for surviving the ordeal. “It is a miracle to be found alive while others died. My God is with me,” he said.

Another passenger, Willard Suweni from Machinga, Malawi, corroborated Mukondiona's account of speeding and reckless driving. Suweni said he overheard the two drivers complaining about the brakes, saying they were not working properly and that they would have to remove the trailer as it was too full.

Suweni said the passengers became alarmed and questioned what would happen to the trailer. After a smoother ride earlier in the journey, he said the driver began "overspeeding" after Bloemfontein, ignoring passengers' pleas to slow down, especially as there were "small children" on board.

He said the driver continued speeding all the way to Limpopo, where he took a bend so dangerously that everyone was shocked into silence. "No one could talk at that point," he recalled.

Suweni, who was travelling to Harare to catch a connecting bus to Blantyre, said he was looking forward to seeing his wife and three children, whom he had not seen in four years. He had sent money home to pay for their school fees.

"Many other people in the bus had not seen their families in years," he said.

Suweni said the bus and its trailer were already overloaded when it left Gqeberha, and some people refused to board in East London. He explained that the crash occurred after the driver lost control of the bus.

“It got off the road and he battled to steer it back because the overloaded trailer was making it difficult for the bus to stay on the road," Suweni said. “Before the bus overturned, a lot of screaming and children crying filled the bus.”

He said he woke up in an ambulance, but many of his fellow passengers were not so lucky. “There was a guy from Zimbabwe behind me, with his wife and small daughter. There was also another guy with his wife and child too. They are all dead," Suweni said. "Lot of children lost their parents in the crash. I don't know how I got out, it could only be God."

Suweni, who lost all the cellphones, shoes, and clothes he had bought for his family, has decided to stay in Blantyre with his family and not return to South Africa.

The Department of Transport confirmed that seven children, including a 10-month-old baby, were among the 42 fatalities. The injured passengers included six critical, 31 serious, and 12 minor cases.

Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi said the injured were transported to various hospitals, while a critically injured child was airlifted to Tshilidzini Hospital for urgent medical care.

The Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, and the Deputy Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, visited the crash site, accompanied by the ambassadors to Zimbabwe and Malawi, and expressed their deep sadness.

The cause of the incident is still under investigation, but the Road Traffic Management Corporation will conduct a full scene reconstruction and mechanical inspection of the bus to determine what led to the tragedy, in collaboration with local law enforcement.

Creecy and Hlengwa voiced concern over recurring public transport crashes, reaffirming that the review of the National Road Safety Strategy will strengthen measures to prevent such incidents, particularly in the public and scholar transport sectors.

Limpopo Transport and Community Safety MEC Violet Mathye said the deceased were Zimbabwean and Malawian nationals travelling to their respective home countries from Gqeberha.

While investigations are ongoing, fatigue has been suggested as another potential factor in the accident.

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