The 14 children and a driver who were killed in an accident outside Knysna on Wednesday were travelling in a badly overloaded school bus, and the brakes may have been faulty. A further 44 children survived but suffered various injuries.
The children and driver were trapped in the bus after it crashed into a river along a hazardous stretch of road near Rheenendal.
The children, aged between six and 16, were supposed to travel in a 67-seater bus but on Wednesday were travelling in a bus designed to seat only 32. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is investigating why the wrong bus was used to transport the pupils to Rheenendal Primary.
The African Express bus plunged off a low water bridge into the swollen Kasatdrift River, about 18km outside Knysna, about 8am. The river is normally a trickle, but on Wednesday it was close to bursting its banks following heavy rains the night before.
A large contingent of police, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) teams and paramedics at the scene recovered the bodies of the driver and the young children who drowned when they were trapped in the vehicle.
Southern cape police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said the vehicle sank front-first into the river, leaving only the back sticking out of the muddy water.
Brett Staegermann, the first person to enter the icy waters in an attempt to save the children, said he was told of the accident while on his way to work.
“I was running late. I wish I’d been there just one minute earlier,” he said.
Numerous family members on the scene said the bus had crossed the river and stopped at the top of a hill to pick up a little girl before it rolled backwards about 100 metres and tipped into the river.
Staegermann, however, said that he often drove behind the bus on his way to work and it was more likely that the vehicle was thrown off the road as it banked into the bend.
“There is a terrible berm on that bend and it throws your car out. This road is terrible and there have been many accidents on this bend over the river.”
Staegermann said when he arrived at the scene he did not see anyone in the water.
“I immediately jumped in and entered the bus through the back window. There were a lot of school bags on the surface of the water and I had to get those out of the way before I could dive down between the seats.
“It was pitch-black down there and very cramped. I couldn’t see anything. I felt around and I reached one child but I couldn’t get him out because he was stuck.
“I went back up for air and when I dived down the second time, I managed to get hold of another child and I pulled him or her out. I was shouting for the people on the side to help me and someone took the child from me through the window. Sadly, I am sure that little child did not survive.”
The NSRI treated Staegermann for hypothermia and someone brought him a change of clothes.
Johan Luiters, who works nearby, said he had arrived at the scene shortly after 8am.
“People had broken out the bus windows and many of the children were already taken out. Two children ran away in shock, but were later found.”
ER24 spokesman Andre Visser said when they arrived at the scene only the back of the bus was visible above the water. They found one child not breathing and without a pulse.
“We immediately started with resuscitation efforts, but to no avail and the child was later declared dead at the scene.” He said a diving unit was called to retrieve the bodies of the other 13 children and the driver.
Staegemann said many of the young children who died had lived on the same farm road as he did. “They were such lekker kids, a real decent bunch of boys,” he said.
Paramedics treated the remaining children for injuries ranging from bruises to suspected back and neck injuries.
Andrew Malan and his wife Liesl said they arrived at the scene shortly after being alerted that their daughter Heidi, 13, had been in the bus.
They said Heidi had a head injury and had also swallowed a lot of water. She was admitted to the Knysna Provincial Hospital with the other survivors.
Although the media were blocked from entering the hospital, her mother said: “Heidi told us that when the bus hit the water she tried to look out for Chameldra Bambani, our six-year-old little neighbour who always walks with her. She said she saw Chameldra losing consciousness so she slapped her in the face. When Chameldra came to, she told her to hold on to the bus window.”
Hester Kangela, whose two granddaughters Nicole Maree, 10, and Leandre Kagela, 13, also survived, said the children were in shock and were not speaking much. “They are not really talking, but my 10-year-old granddaughter said one of the children was stuck in a window under the water,” she said, clutching a bag with wet school shoes and clothes.
Leni Hasly said her 14-year-old child, Charlin, had told her she injured her hand as she smashed open the bus’s back window.
“My other child, Beua, 15, suffered chest injuries. Their injuries are not serious, but they have not been able to deal with this tragedy,” she said.
The children, from the surrounding forestry areas of Goldfield, Bibbieshoek, Highway and Bramakrans, were picked up by the driver, Pastor Taan Colin Payle, who was in his 60s, every day.
Payle’s niece, Madeleine Conradie, said “Oom Taan” had retired due to ill health, but returned to service a month ago when the company struggled to find another driver.
“He loved the children and they all cared for him. He was a wonderful person.”
She said he often complained about “continual problems” with the bus’s brakes.
Hester Lamini, whose friends and family were on the bus, also said there were always problems with the brakes. “The children often had to get out and walk the rest of the way to school because the bus broke down.”
Another family member, Yvonne Pieterse, said she had also heard complaints from the children about the bus breaking down and having problems with the brakes.
African Express owner, Pravin Singh, however, said Payle had never complained to him of the brakes. “We tried our best to keep the bus roadworthy and we have a job card showing that the brakes were renewed in March and were in good working order,” he said.
Singh said Payle was a reliable driver. He said he could not comment on allegations that the bus was overloaded.
Announcing the investigation into the overloaded bus, Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant said records showed that a bus that seats 67 learners was approved for the route as 65 learners were registered for the learner transport scheme.
A number of the parents and community members, who gathered en masse at the scene of the tragedy, said there had been “way too many” fatal accidents on the low water bridge.
They said a bus carrying a soccer team had plunged into the river some years ago, resulting in the deaths of a number of players. More recently, two men had died when a car with four occupants went off the bridge, while a beverages truck had also plunged into the river.
A wooden post with a number of crosses nailed to it bears testimony to the lives lost at the river bend.
Hundreds of shocked relatives and friends wept quietly behind the police cordon as emergency workers cleared the scene and salvaged the bus on Wednesday. - Garden Route Media