A speeding bus, a loud crash, people screaming and then darkness… This is how some of the passengers aboard the bus which crashed in Meyerton on Monday remember the accident.
Nineteen people, including the driver, were certified dead by the time of going to print.
“I was so scared I went cold,” said Martha Mshwamo who was on her way to work in Meyerton. Her husband, Isaac, held her hand as she winced with pain on her gurney in Kopanong Hospital.
“I was so terrified, I (couldn’t) believe it,” said Mshwamo, who was suffering from pains in her hips and hooked to a drip.
Those who survived the crash were taken to Kopanong, Sebokeng and Natalspruit hospitals, while two – who sustained serious injuries – were airlifted to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto.
The bus was on its way from Sebokeng towards Meyerton on the R59 north on Monday morning, when it drove through a crash-barrier and off the road and into a stormwater ditch along the side of the road.
Several of the survivors said they could not remember what happened after the bus crashed through the barrier.
“Everything just went black,” said John Maine, who was standing near the front of the bus during the crash. He works as a boilermaker and was one of the passengers who was going to get off at the nearby factories in Meyerton.
“Then I just saw people lying around, people dead, it was terrifying,” said Maine.
According to the survivors, the driver was trying to turn left into Verwoerd Street but couldn’t because he was travelling at a high speed. They said the driver lost control and could not complete the left turn. The bus then hit the crash barrier and fell into the ditch, where it then landed on its right side.
Survivors also confirmed that the bus did not normally take that route, but was forced to as there were protests along the designated route.
“I remember hitting the barrier then hearing people screaming,” said Albinos Motseki Maphutse. He received several stitches for cuts across his face, including along his cheek, his ear, behind his ear and across his forehead. He was waiting for the results of an X-ray and said it was the first time he had been in an accident.
Those recovering at the Kopanong Hospital waited for doctors’ reports and X-rays in their blood-stained and torn clothes. Petros Namanyane was also standing next to his wife Anna’s hospital gurney. She suffered head injuries and was in too much pain to speak.
“My heart is sore,” Namanyane said. “I can’t understand what happened (to my wife), it hurts me.”
He was afraid the head trauma would cause brain damage.
Dr Mmaselloane Kgomojoo, said the hospital was working on the backlog of injured patients and confirmed 10 patients had been transferred from Kopanong to Sebokeng and Natalspruit hospitals.
Putco spokesman Raphiri Matsaneng said the company will commission an independent investigation to establish the cause of the accident.
He said the bus, which was certified to carry 85 passengers – 65 seated and 20 standing – was travelling from Sebokeng to Henley-on-Klip near Meyerton, south of Johannesburg.
Matsaneng said the passengers were mainly commuting to work and no children were on board. He said the driver, who was among the dead, started working at Putco in September. He had been working as a truck driver since 1996.
Transport Minister Ben Martins has instructed transport authorities to get to the bottom of the cause of the crash. This after he visited the scene of the accident and survivors in Kopanong and Sebokeng hospitals.
“There are no words to describe the shock with which we received the sad and unfortunate reports of this tragic end to lives,” Martins said.
The Star