A bus carrying pilgrims fell off a bridge and burst into flames on a mountain pass between Mokopane and Marken in South Africa's Limpopo province. 45 people died. Only an eight-year-old girl survived.
According to South African television station SABC, the accident happened about 100 kilometers north of Pretoria. The driver reportedly lost control. The bus overstepped the barrier and fell off the bridge and burst into flames.
45 people died. Only the child survived the accident and an eight-year-old girl was taken to hospital.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, who visited the scene, offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the bus accident.
He said the South African government would conduct a full investigation into the cause of the crash.
The bus with the pilgrims was traveling from Gaborone in Botswana to Moria, near St. Petersburg, where the largest gathering of Christians from across Africa takes place on Easter. Moria is the headquarters of Zion Christian Church, which has approximately 16 million members in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
For a week, South Africa is gearing up for heavy traffic during the holiday season, with more than a million cars expected to appear on border crossings during this time. 400 additional officers were called in to ensure security.
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