Dozens killed as bus plunges 300m down steep hillside

A wave of shock and grief swept the Eastern Cape after a loaded bus plunged off a gravel road at 8am on Kats Pass between Cebe and Butterworth and down a steep hillside, rolling multiple times and flinging its passengers out as it went.

The official death toll late on Monday was reported as 25, this was later revised to 24,  most of them  villagers, and including the driver.

Sixty-seven people were injured.

The first victim to be removed from the treacherous scene was a critically wounded four-year-old.

Huge rescue resources, among them three medical choppers and 20 ambulances, were rushed to the area, followed by politicians, and there were scenes of desperation as emergency workers struggled down the bushy 300m death trail searching for the living and the dead. The SANDF was also brought in with police in the desperate mission, which saw rescuers in harnesses abseiling to reach, treat and evacuate victims.

Provincial health spokesperson Siziwe Kupelo said the bus was carrying 93 people.

On the scene DispatchLIVE was told the bus was certified to carry 79, but this could not be confirmed.

Releasing the official figures, Kupelo said one passenger suffered head and spinal injuries and multiple fractures.

The injured were admitted to Thafalofefe Hospital and some were transferred to Cecilia Makiwane, Frere and Butterworth hospitals.

Andisa Bhabha, 26, of Cebe, wept when he found his mother, Nobandla, among the dead.

The devastated young man said: “I looked for her in the hospital but couldn’t find her and I looked everywhere else, but eventually I found her lying dead under a tree. I did not know my mom could die like this!”

Provincial transport spokesperson Unathi Bingqose confirmed his MEC, Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, had raised a complaint from the community about a reckless driver with the same bus company, but said the department could not say if this was the same driver.

Binqose called it “one of the most shocking accidents in the province in more than  five years”.

ImiNgcangathelo traditional leader Nkosi Phathuxolo Tyali, one of the first on the scene, said: “We are busy rescuing ... our focus is to assist those who are injured. This is a tragedy.”

Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said some passengers were crushed by the spinning bus and others were pinned under the wreck when it finally came to a halt.

He said the four-year-old girl had been airlifted to East London.

“Because of the terrain our helicopters cannot land.”

Statements poured in from various government tiers.

ANC Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi expressed his shock and called on the bus company to work with authorities to expedite the investigation into the cause of the crash.

“We request the authorities to immediately commence with the investigations into the cause of this carnage, and for the Road Accident Fund to give the families of the deceased and injured the necessary support and comfort.

“No effort should be spared in determining the cause of this horrific accident,” he said.

Tikana-Gxothiwe said at the scene that she suspected the bus had been overloaded and was speeding, but she did not rule out the possibility of a catastrophic mechanical failure.

Postmortems would be conducted on Tuesday in Butterworth while the departments of transport, health and social development, as well as the SAPS, would assist traumatised families.

The SA Funerals Association has offered to store bodies for free and to donate caskets to all the affected families.

The association’s Yangama Quma said: “This is the least we can do. It is at times like this that our spirit of ubuntu should be felt.”