TEN Zimbabweans have died just outside Makhado (Louis Tritchard) in South Africa after a cross-border Mzansi bus they were traveling in overran a traffic circle resulting in the driver losing control of the vehicle, which then overturned.
The deceased consist of five males and five females.
The Limpopo Transport and Community Safety department said the bus, which was en-route to Johannesburg, was coming from Zimbabwe.
"Limpopo Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) for Transport and Community Safety, Violet Mathye, has learned with sadness about the deaths of 10 passengers, who perished in a bus accident that took place at 3 Miles, on the N1 around Makhado. The bus was en-route to Johannesburg from Zimbabwe, when the accident happened just before midnight, on the evening of Tuesday, 27 August 2024," the Transport and Community department said in a statement in response to NewsDay.
"All the deceased, 5 males and 5 females, are reportedly foreign nationals. According to reports, the bus drove over a round-about (the last traffic circle from Makhado towards Polokwane) at high speed, lost control and overturned, killing and injuring its passengers in the process," said the statement issued by Phuti Lekganyane, adding:
"The bus driver is reportedly new in his job, and was not familiar with the surroundings. The scene has been cleared, and the injured passengers have been taken to various hospitals in Makhado.”
MEC Mathye has reportedly sent messages of condolences to the families of the deceased, and also urged motorists to be alert of their surroundings and drive with caution, at all times.
Meanwhile, NewsDay has since established the bus was from Bulawayo although names of the deceased are yet to be established.