Further information about the identification and repatriation processes will be communicated through official media channels, said Free State department of health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi. The bus was carrying 78 people, including the driver.

The death toll has meanwhile risen to eleven after a critically injured passenger died at Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital on Friday. OFM News previously reported ten people died when a bus travelling from Cape Town to Zimbabwe overturned about 24km north of Trompsburg on Thursday (30/7).

A Zimbabwean woman (47), who was admitted to Pelonomi as a priority 1 patient, died despite receiving intensive medical treatment, Mvambi confirmed. She had been in intensive care and placed on ventilator support.Specialist teams at Pelonomi and Universitas Academic Hospital continue to treat the remaining critically and seriously injured passengers, said Mvambi. Zimbabwe’s consul-general in Johannesburg, Eria Phiri, and Free State department of health head Ernest Mohlahlo have visited them.

“The free state department of health extends its heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of all those who lost their lives, and wishes a speedy recovery to all those still receiving treatment.” 

Police have opened a culpable homicide case as investigations into the crash continue. The bus driver was taken into police custody for questioning as part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident, said Free State police spokesperson Sgt. Mahlomola Kareli.

Free State emergency services also responded to several other bus-related accidents on Saturday morning. A bus overturned on the R701 at Voortrekker Street in Smithfield at approximately 04:30. Two people were critically injured, two sustained serious injuries, and 64 suffered minor injuries. No fatalities were reported.

Meanwhile, three buses were involved in a multi-vehicle collision between Bethlehem and Reitz. Two people were critically injured, five sustained serious injuries, and 180 suffered minor injuries. No deaths were reported.

Four people died in another accident at the Reitz-Tweeling crossing, where a bus collided with a motor, while two pedestrians died in a crash on the N1 south of Bloemfontein near the Ferreira turnoff on Sunday evening. 

Emergency medical services implemented mass-casualty triage and coordinated their response with law enforcement agencies and road authorities across all the scenes, said Mvambi.

Investigations into the circumstances surrounding each accident are continuing.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi dg

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