Bus with over 80 elderly people kills 25 in South Africa

A bus carrying over 80 mainly elderly people to the town centre in Butterworth, Eastern Cape province, South Africa, rolled down a steep embankment, leaving 25 dead and approximately 62 injured.

Twenty-five people died Monday when a bus rolled down a steep embankment in South Africa’s coastal Eastern Cape province,

The country’s transport minister, Fikile Mbalula said, “Reports indicate that the driver lost control of the bus, which subsequently rolled down a steep embankment, leaving 25 dead and approximately 62 injured.

“To lose so many lives in a single accident is devastating and shocking.”

“The driver lost control of the vehicle and it rolled down a very steep embankment,” Binqose said, adding that the driver figured among the dead.

The crash was the deadliest accident in the province since 2015 when 35 people lost their lives.

Binqose said checks would be carried out if the bus had been roadworthy as “it may be a contributing factor”.

South Africa has among the highest rate of road accidents in the region owing to speeding and poor maintenance of some vehicles and roads.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) data shows over 14,000 people died in road crashes on South African roads in 2017.