Africa: In the early hours of the morning seven days ago on M17, the country experienced one of the most horrific roads crashes between a bus and a truck.
Fifteen (15) people died on the scene, and 37 others were rushed to the hospital with varying degrees of injuries for urgent medical attention.
Since the beginning of this gruesome accident, we relentlessly visited those bereaved families. We know that almost all the people who died were the only breadwinners in their families, and they died while on their way to work to earn a living for their families. The hopes of many were dashed by that crash.
Tomorrow many of the deceased will be laid to rest. To assist the families in finding closure, we have decided to come here to release a preliminary report on the investigation into the crash. International standards followed in these kinds of circumstances require that we monitor those who were injured for 30 days before a final report is concluded.
I, however, wish to convey my sincere gratitude to the Road Traffic Management Corporation crash investigation team, the South African Police and Tshwane Metro Police Department for the diligent work they have undertaken to speedily investigate the accident and compile the report that we are able to release today.
The report confirms that the crash happened in the early hours of the morning, around 5h10. The bus was travelling in the southerly direction with 56 passengers on board. The truck carrying furniture was travelling in the opposite direction. The bus shifted from its original lane and into the way of the bus resulting in a head-on collision.
It was confirmed that weather conditions at the time of the crash were clear, and this was ruled out as a contributory factor.
The road was also found to be in fair condition and not likely to have been a cause of contributory factor in the crash. A full mechanical investigation was conducted on both vehicles and confirmed that there were no mechanical defects or failures that contributed to the occurrence of the crash.
It was found that both vehicles were in a roadworthy state before the crash.
