Bus death toll 21, 77 injured
2005-12-17 16:08
Johannesburg - Seven children and 14 adults were confirmed dead shortly before 16:00 on Saturday after the bus they were travelling in overturned and plunged into a river near Wepener, Free State police said.
Captain Elsa Gerber said 77 people were injured in the accident.
Many were removed from the wreckage and transported to hospitals in the province.
The driver of the bus, which was travelling from Secunda in Mpumalanga to Idutywa in Eastern Cape, allegedly lost control of the vehicle before smashing through barriers and plunging into a river along the Dewetsdorp to Wepener road.
Police divers searched the river downstream to check for more survivors or bodies, but have now ended their search.
Earlier Transport Minister Jeff Radebe sent the government's condolences to the victims of the accident.
The SABC reported that an emergency interdepartmental task team comprising of officials from the departments of Health and Social Development, disaster management and the police, had been put together to help survivors of the accident.
Arrive Alive has called on relatives of the victims to help identify the dead.
Arrive Alive says most of the victims did not have any form of identification on them.
- SAPA