Johannesburg - There was a strange noise, it sounded like a crunching. We were tipping over and then the bus fell. It was very quick.”
This is how victim Glen Maliwa described the chaotic scene of Monday night’s bus crash on the M1 south, just after the M2 split in Newtown.
Forty-one people were injured in the accident, with four of them suffering moderate-to-serious injuries. The bus was travelling from Park Station in the Joburg CBD to Cape Town.
According to witnesses, the bus first crashed into an Audi on Smit Street at around 7.45pm, 15 minutes before the actual accident.
“He was driving funny, he looked like he was drunk and he bumped into the car in front of us. They each got out to swop numbers and then we started to drive again,” Maliwa said.
“We were on the highway when he suddenly changed lanes, saying he took the wrong route and then he lost control of the bus and that’s when the bus fell. I think we hit another car, but I’m not sure. I’m traumatised,” he said.
Maliwa, who suffered a leg injury, said he remembered seeing a pregnant woman who was sitting near him fall when the bus was “tipping over”.
“It was so quiet just after the bus fell. I was confused and then we understood what was happening. People were scared and there were screams,” he said.
Following the accident, Maliwa managed to get out of the bus through a window. He recalled seeing a lot of glass, lights and blood, adding that bystanders helped the injured get out of the bus which was lying on its side.
Maliwa said he believed the bus was also overloaded with luggage and this could have added to the cause of the crash. This morning Maliwa said he was still in pain and was waiting to find out when they would travel to Cape Town.
“We were put up in a hotel, but all our stuff is gone, we lost it after the accident - we couldn’t get it so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Maliwa concluded.
Despite several attempts, the bus company, Atlantic Charter and Tours, could not be reached for comment.
According to Emer-G-Med spokesman Maxwell Cohen, paramedics arrived on the scene within minutes, finding “a scene of utter chaos”.
“Paramedics immediately set up a triage area and began to assess the injured. Fortunately, only 41 of the bus 70 plus occupants were found to have been injured in the collision,” he said.
Passengers were treated for their injuries on the scene before being taken to nearby hospitals.
“The cause of the collision is unclear, but it’s believed the bus was travelling to Cape Town, when it collided with another vehicle causing it to overturn,” Cohen said.
Joburg metro police department spokesman chief superintendent Wayne Minnaar, confirmed reports this morning that the bus driver had fled the scene.