Eagle Bus Liner Group's CEO Ashra Hassim tells OFM News the bus drivers who were navigating the bus from Johannesburg to East London on Sunday, are still in shock and have not driven since the incident. The bus liner has since offered counselling to the drivers as a result.

The group is also keeping tabs on their passengers by regularly contacting those who witnessed the tragedy. They are now awaiting a report from the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport probing the cause of the incident.

On Sunday morning, OFM News reported six people, including a baby, two children and three adults sadly died in an accident involving Eagle Bus Liner and a Toyota Conquest. The two vehicles collided at the Dewetsdorp and Reddersburg crossing on the N6 road. According to the provincial Emergency Medical Service’s Sipho Towa, the bus drove over the car, which allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign, and dragged it along for another 150m.

It is further believed that the Toyota Conquest transported eight passengers on the night of the accident. According to the Department of Police, Roads and Transport's spokesperson, Hilary Mophete, if this is true, it means the vehicle was overloaded. Mophete also added that the Toyota Conquest allegedly failed to stop at the junction. 

The surviving two patients from the Conquest have since been admitted to the Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein in a stable condition.

The Department of Health's spokesperson in the Free State, Mondli Mvambi, says that one of the patients is expected to be discharged soon, while the other one awaits surgery.

OFM News