Cape Town – At least nine people were killed and more than 10 were critically injured when a bus overturned on the N1 about 10km from Touwsriver near Laingsburg in the Western Cape early on Sunday morning, paramedics said.
“At approximately 2am this morning [Sunday], paramedics from various services arrived on scene where they found the bus lying on its side, partially into a veld next to the road. The trailer of the bus was still lying in the middle of the road,” ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said.
Paramedics described the scene as chaotic as they found several people scattered across the road surface. It was understood that several people were ejected from the bus as it overturned.
Upon further assessment, paramedics found that 31 patients were already removed to nearby facilities by local emergency services. At least 20 others were still found on the scene with various injuries. Some of the people were trapped inside the overturned bus, he said.
Paramedics and firefighters were still freeing critically injured patients from the bus well after 5am. Some of them were severely trapped and special rescue equipment had to be used to free them.
The cause of the crash was not yet known, Vermaak said.
African News Agency (ANA)