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The bus, carrying other people from Botswana on an Easter weekend pilgrimage in South Africa, fell 165 feet into a ravine.
By John Eligon
Report from Johannesburg
An 8-year-old woman was the sole survivor after a bus carrying 46 other people on their way to an Easter weekend pilgrimage in South Africa fell 165 feet off a bridge into a ravine on Thursday and caught fire, according to a local shipping department.
The bus was traveling from Botswana to Moria, a devout pilgrimage site in northeastern South Africa, when it left a bridge winding through the Mmamatlakala pass after the driver “lost control,” the branch said in a statement.
Forty-five people were killed, including the driver.
The woman is receiving medical attention at a nearby hospital, the Department of Transport for South Africa’s Limpopo province said in a statement. The boy is in serious condition, according to another government statement.
“Rescue operations continued into Thursday afternoon, with some bodies burned beyond recognition, others trapped in the rubble and others strewn about,” the transportation department said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called his Botswana counterpart, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, to offer his condolences, the president’s office said last Thursday.
The twist of fate occurred in a picturesque mountainous domain with winding roads and scenic prospects about three and a half hours north of Johannesburg. The road, on an upper viaduct, curved sharply over a ravine flanked on both sides by rocky slopes covered with trees.
The domain attracts many other people on Easter weekend for a pilgrimage to Moria, the headquarters of Zion’s Christian Church, one of the largest in the country. Ramaphosa visited last year’s pilgrimage, his first since the Covid-19 pandemic. The African border government said they were preparing for an influx of visitors for this year’s pilgrimage.
The nationalities of those affected have not yet been determined.
The tragedy came as South Africans braced for a four-day weekend, with bank holidays on Friday and Monday.
On primary public holidays, the South African government takes additional measures, such as police roadside checks and advertising campaigns, to help prevent injuries on the roads. On Wednesday, South Africa’s Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, unveiled a road protection campaign at Easter, noting that road injuries are piling up over the holidays.
“Easter is a time of celebration, but it is also a time when roads could prove more damaging due to increased traffic and festivities,” the ministry warned.
Africa has traditionally had the world’s road traffic death rates, according to data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization.
South Africa recorded more than 12,400 road fatalities in 2022, the highest recent year for which statistics are available. The South African Automobile Association called road deaths a “national crisis” in the past year. The agreement argued that the government wants to invest more in protecting roads and enforcing traffic laws more.
“If these two disorders are solved, the terrible road protection scenario in our country will never improve,” he said.
Russell Goldman contributed reporting from New York.
John Eligon is the Times’ Johannesburg bureau chief and covers a wide range of occasions and trends that influence and shape the lives of others in southern Africa. Learn more about John Eligon
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