'Everyone was screaming'

2008-06-03 13:03

Durban - The driver of an SA Roadlink bus - which crashed near Durban's Paradise Valley early on Tuesday morning injuring at least 57 people - may have fallen asleep at the wheel, the KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department said.

Spokesperson Zinhle Mngomezulu said of the 57 injured, 13 were children.

She said only one person was critically injured.

"We suspect the bus driver may have fallen asleep".

She said the driver had lost control of the bus on the N3 west bound freeway, hit into a crash barrier, and "flew across" onto the oncoming carriageway.

Police spokesperson Inspector Solomon Mbhele said the bus had been carrying 74 people at the time.

"The bus driver was not injured," he said.

Nqobile Sibiya, a 26-year old passenger, who escaped injury, said he had been asleep at the time of accident.

"I didn't see what happened. I was asleep and when I woke up the bus was like this and everybody was screaming," he said.

The bus had left Johannesburg the night before and was due to arrive at Durban's main railway station less than 30 minutes after the accident.

On November 26 last year, three people - including a six-year-old child - died when an SA Roadlink bus and a bakkie collided on the N2 near Plettenberg Bay.

In December 2006 another 12 people were killed when an SA Roadlink bus ploughed into a bridge on the N3 motorway in Pietermaritzburg.

- SAPA