The families of the victims of yesterday' horror bus crash that took 24 lives and left 68 people injured near Centane on Tuesday morning began the agonising process of identifying their loved ones at the Butterworth Forensic Mortuary.
Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said that the postmortems would start on Tuesday and the Africa Best AB350 Bus Company have provided free transport to take family members from Cebhe village in Centane to Butterworth and back.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is expected to visit the Eastern Cape on Tuesday.
Survivors including Bukelwa Nkonki, 33, and Vulindlela Malambisa, 53, of Vulindlea, who miraculously escaped the crash almost unhurt, told DispatchLIVE that the bus was speeding and had been overloaded.
Nkonki said that after being ejected from the rolling bus she ran to the nearby village and raised the alarm before she was taken to hospital while villagers rushed to the bus to assist the injured.
The Africa’s Best 350 (AB350) 65-seater rolled numerous times, uprooting trees, for almost 400 metres down an embankment at Kats Pass at Mahlathimane, Nxoxha village.
AB350 CEO Nosipho Ngewu said the bus, bought in December 2017, was certified to carry 65 seated passengers and 14 standing, but according to figures provided by transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said that there 92 people during the time of the accident.
In August 2015 35 people were killed on the R408 between Butterworth and Willowvale, also in an AB350 65-seater bus, after it. plunged into the dried out Shixini River outside Nkelekethe Village.
Tikana-Gxothiwe said: “Twenty-four people died, and 68 others were rushed to hospital. We believe that overloading and speeding contributed to the accident, while we cannot rule out the possibility of mechanical fault. But all this will be ascertained by the investigation.''
When asked about the state of the gravel road, the MEC said maintenance work had recently been completed on it.
amaXhosa Kingdom royal family spokesperson Xhanti Sigcawu: “This is a third year in a row where we have been confronted with horrendous bus accidents ... This is catastrophic for our community.''
The royal house expressed its sympathy to the families of all those affected. ''We also wish to make a plea to the people of Centane and Gatyane [Willowvale] to rally around these families.'' he said