Cape Town – A total of 28 people were killed when a luxury bus coach overturned on the N2 between East London and Butterworth in the Eastern Cape on Monday afternoon.
According to provincial transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose, the bus driver had lost control at the notorious Kei Cuttings site, a few kilometres from the Kei Bridge.
Passengers, who had apparently started their journey in Cape Town, were trapped inside the bus and the death toll could climb after the bus plunged 200 metres down a steep embankment.
A large contingent of search and rescue personnel, traffic officers, firefighters and paramedics are on the scene. Six people are injured, of which one is in a critical condition.
UPDATE!!!
— Road Traffic Management Corporation (@TrafficRTMC) August 16, 2021
Now 28 fatalities (including the driver) 6 injured persons, of which 1 person is in a critical condition.
Its alleged the driver lost control of the Bus and it crashed through the guardrails where it then overturned.#ArriveAlive https://t.co/Y4Ev9BOhLa
Binqose said the driver of the bus is among the dead, which include a baby.
"He lost control just before he could cross the river on the last curve," said Binqose.
Five passengers were reportedly admitted at Frere Hospital and one at Life St Dominic's Private Hospital in East London. More than 20 people who survived relatively unscathed will be provided accommodation.
The department and the bus company are busy setting up a contact centre for worried family members who want to check on the well-being of their loved ones.
Between Komka and Butterworth, the N2 passes through the Kei Cuttings, known for its high prevalence of accidents. The northern edge of the Kei Cuttings is on steep cliffs.
The Kei Cuttings lie inland from the Wild Coast attractions of the Kei River Mouth, Morgans Bay and Cintsa.
There are 31 bends corners and curves compressed into its 11.8km length and the 422m altitude drop, when travelling from south to north, where brake failure has been the common factor in most of the serious accidents.
IOL