An 8-year-old girl who was the sole survivor of a bus crash that killed 44 Botswana worshipers during an Easter pilgrimage in South Africa was in stable condition Friday with minor injuries, provincial health authorities said.
As investigators were still sifting through the wreckage to recover bodies and determine the cause of the crash, family and friends of the deceased were still trying to understand what happened to their loved ones.
The worshipers were traveling Thursday from St. Engenas Zion Christian Church in Molepolole, a village about an hour outside Botswana’s capital Gaborone, when the driver lost control during a sharp turn through a mountainous area in northeastern South Africa .
The bus fell 150 feet from an overpass and crashed into a rocky ravine, where it burst into flames, authorities said. The driver also died.
Segamtsi David, an elder at the church, said worshipers had made regular pilgrimages to the denomination’s headquarters in Moria, South Africa, but had never traveled the winding, mountainous route where the accident occurred.
Ms. David went around the community on Friday to meet families of victims, she said.
“We cried last night,” she said. “Right now we have no tears. We are just trying to encourage those who have lost loved ones. But it is difficult.”
The girl who survived grew up in 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 workers found the girl outside the bus and she suffered minor cuts to her arms, legs, head and back, said Thilivhali Muavha, a spokesman for Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, the official who oversees the Ministry of Health in Limpopo province, where the accident happened.
Mr Muavha said authorities had not yet determined how the girl, who has not been publicly identified, could have survived such a devastating crash.
“All we can say is we are happy she was found alive,” he said.
South African Police confirmed on Friday that all 45 passengers on the bus, along with the driver, were citizens of Botswana and made the journey to South Africa from Molepolole, a village considered the gateway to the vast Kalahari Desert.
Police are investigating the accident as a case of wrongful death, a statement said, but provided no further details.
By Friday afternoon, 34 bodies had been recovered, according to police. Only nine of them were identifiable, while the others were burned beyond recognition.
The tragedy cast a dark cloud over Botswana, a heavily Christian country of about 2.5 million as it prepared to celebrate the Easter weekend.
The Zion Christian Church is the largest denomination in southern Africa. The annual Easter pilgrimage to the Church’s headquarters in Moria, South Africa, typically attracts millions of visitors.
“It is a catastrophe,” said Lemogang Kwape, Botswana’s foreign minister. “We are deeply affected by what happened, especially because people started enjoying themselves in the Lord.”
Mr Kwape said he had received a call from his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, informing him of the situation. The Zion Church is not only a major religious group in Botswana, but is also involved in community development, he said, including building medical clinics.
According to data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization, Africa has historically had one of the highest traffic fatalities in the world.