Overturned bus kills dozens in South Africa
- 14 years ago
Dozens of body bags lie by the road, surrounded by emergency workers.
24 South Africans have died. Many of them small children. Doctors are treating the injured at a nearby hospital.
A single-decker bus was travelling along the N1 Highway to Cape Town. The driver reportedly lost control and the vehicle overturned.
A man who survived says the bus was travelling at high speed, when the driver lost control.
[Unidentified survivor, (Xhosa)]:
"There was a truck in front of us, our driver tried to overtake the truck at high speed. But unfortunately he lost control and the bus overturned."
The N1 Highway is frequently referred to as the “road of death”, due to the high number of fatal accidents.
Lennit Max of the Western Cape Town Province says the government considers road safety a priority.
[Lennit Max, Provincial Minister for Community Safety, Western Cape Province]:
"We and the Western Cape, the Western Cape government, is very serious in road safety. We do everything possible in our power to ensure that vehicles are roadworthy and that road users comply with the roads rules, rules of the road."
South Africa, which will host the 2010 Soccer World Cup in June, has spent billions of rands to upgrade roads and improve road safety.
24 South Africans have died. Many of them small children. Doctors are treating the injured at a nearby hospital.
A single-decker bus was travelling along the N1 Highway to Cape Town. The driver reportedly lost control and the vehicle overturned.
A man who survived says the bus was travelling at high speed, when the driver lost control.
[Unidentified survivor, (Xhosa)]:
"There was a truck in front of us, our driver tried to overtake the truck at high speed. But unfortunately he lost control and the bus overturned."
The N1 Highway is frequently referred to as the “road of death”, due to the high number of fatal accidents.
Lennit Max of the Western Cape Town Province says the government considers road safety a priority.
[Lennit Max, Provincial Minister for Community Safety, Western Cape Province]:
"We and the Western Cape, the Western Cape government, is very serious in road safety. We do everything possible in our power to ensure that vehicles are roadworthy and that road users comply with the roads rules, rules of the road."
South Africa, which will host the 2010 Soccer World Cup in June, has spent billions of rands to upgrade roads and improve road safety.