Dozens of worshippers died after a bus headed to an Easter conference apparently “lost control” and “plunged” off a cliff in South Africa’s Limpopo province on Thursday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported.
The crash claimed the lives of 45 people and one person was seriously injured, the country’s transport department said in a statement.
An eight-year-old girl, who survived has been airlifted to hospital, the public broadcaster reported.
According to SABC, the passengers were pilgrims travelling from Gaborone – the capital city of neighbouring Botswana – to a church for an Easter conference.
The crash happened in the Mamatlakala mountain pass between Mokopane and Marken. The bus caught fire after falling, public broadcaster SABC reported.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
In a statement, the province’s transport department said that “according to reports, the driver lost control and the bus fell onto a rocky surface, some 50 meters under the bridge and caught fire.”
Efforts are ongoing to recover the bodies of the passengers who were killed, according to the statement.
“Some bodies burned beyond recognition,” the local department said. Others are “trapped inside the debris and others [are] scattered on the scene,” it added.
SABC quoted the South African Transport Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, as saying that the government would repatriate the bodies to Botswana.
“I am sending my heartfelt condolences to the families affected by the tragic bus crash near Mamatlakala. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. We continue to urge responsible driving at all times with heightened alertness as more people are on our roads this Easter weekend,” Chikunga said in a statement.