Knysna horror crash - 3 children from one family die

2011-08-24 23:35

Michelle Pienaar, Die Burger

George - A mother is without her three children and two sets of twins are dead after Wednesday's tragic bus accident near Knysna.

The children were among 14 from the Rheenendal Primary School who drowned, together with the bus driver, after the bus rolled into Kasat's drift.

There were 56 passengers on the bus, which is designed to seat only 33.

The driver, Colin Pyne, reportedly had stopped to pick up a child who was waiting on a hill.

The bus started rolling back after the brakes apparently failed. Seconds later just the back of the blue bus was sticking out of the water.

Johan Luiters, who works nearby, said he arrived at the scene just after 08:00. He saw children trying to climb out of the bus's windows. Just 42 pupils could reach the banks of the river.

Divers searched the waters and brought the bodies to the surface one by one. They were placed, covered in white blankets, next to one another on the bridge.

Paulina Figelander, whose children 15-year old Mauricha, Felicity, 7, and André, 9, could only look on, wordlessly grieving.

An investigation into the accident is underway.