A bus that careened off a high overpass in South Africa and plunged into a rocky ravine, killing 45 people and leaving only an 8-year-old girl alive, was carrying Christian worshipers from neighboring Botswana on an annual pilgrimage.
But never before had the pilgrims driven on the treacherous, winding mountain road where the crash happened, said Segametsi David, a church elder with St. Engenas Zion Christian Church, in Molepolole, a village in Botswana.
“We cried last night,” said Ms. David, who on Friday was visiting the families of victims in the village. “Right now, we don’t have tears. We are just trying to encourage those that lost loved ones. But it’s hard.”
The 8-year-old girl who survived is named Lauryn Siako, said family members. She was in stable condition with minor injuries on Friday, said the health authorities in Limpopo Province, in northeastern South Africa, where the crash occurred.
The bus plunged 165 feet off an overpass and crashed into the ravine, where it burst into flames. The driver also died, officials said.
Kabelo Joseph Selome, a local ward councilor and a relative of the girl who survived, said in an interview in Botswana that the bus had been following two cars carrying church elders. But when the cars took a turn, the bus failed to follow — suggesting that the bus driver was lost, said Mr. Selome, who had spoken with the elders.
Investigators were still picking through the wreckage to recover bodies and determine the cause of the crash. The authorities said that the driver had lost control on a sharp turn over a pass in Mmamatlakala Mountain. The police were investigating the crash as a case of culpable homicide, according to a statement, though they did not provide further details.
The girl who survived grew up in the church because her parents were very active and she was “passionate about God,” Ms. David said. She was traveling to South Africa with her grandmother, Ms. David said.
Emergency responders found the girl outside the bus with minor lacerations to her arms, legs, head and back, said Thilivhali Muavha, a spokesman for Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, the official overseeing the Department of Health in Limpopo Province.
Mr. Muavha said the authorities had not yet determined how the girl was able to survive such a devastating crash.
“All we can say is that we are happy that she was found alive,” he said.
The South African police confirmed on Friday that the passengers on the bus, along with the driver, were citizens of Botswana making the journey to South Africa from Molepolole, a village that is considered the gateway to the vast Kalahari Desert.
As of Friday afternoon, 34 bodies had been recovered, the police said. Only nine of them were identifiable, with the others burned beyond recognition.
The tragedy cast a cloud over Botswana, a heavily Christian nation of about 2.5 million that was preparing to celebrate the Easter weekend.
The Zion Christian Church is the largest denomination in southern Africa. The annual Easter pilgrimage at the church’s headquarters in Moria, South Africa, typically attracts millions of visitors.
“It’s a catastrophe,” said Lemogang Kwape, Botswana’s foreign minister. “We are badly affected by what happened, especially that people were going to enjoy themselves in the Lord.”
Mr. Kwape said he had received a call from his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, to update him on the situation. The Zion church is not only a major religious denomination in Botswana, but it is also involved in community development, he said, including building medical clinics.
Africa has historically had among the highest rates of road fatalities in the world, according to data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization.
Source Agencies
