An 8-year-old child was the only survivor after a bus with 46 people on board plunged 50 meters from a bridge into a ravine and burst into flames near South Africa’s border with Botswana, a provincial transport agency said.
The child, whose gender was not disclosed, received medical attention at a nearby hospital, the Transport Department of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. said in a statement.
Forty-five people, including the driver, were killed.
The bus was traveling from Botswana to Moria, South Africa, for a church service over the Easter weekend when it drove off the Mma Matlakala Bridge after the driver “lost control and the bus fell onto a rock surface,” the statement said .
“Rescue operations continued into the late hours of Thursday evening, with some bodies burned beyond recognition, others trapped in rubble and others strewn across the scene,” the department said.
The nationalities of the victims have not yet been determined.
On Wednesday, Sindisiwe Chikunga, South Africa’s transport minister, launched an Easter road safety campaign, noting that road accidents tend to spike during the holidays.
“Easter is a time for celebration, but it is also a time when roads can be more dangerous due to increased traffic and holiday festivities,” the ministry warned.