Bus tragedy: dark, dark day
“It’s a dark, dark day,” sobbed Olivia Williams, mother of a 14-year-old girl who was one of the 14 children who tragically lost their lives in the horrific Rheenendal bus accident on Wednesday morning, August 24.
At time of going to press it was still unclear as to what had caused the African Express-owned 32-seater TATA bus, transporting 58 Rheenendal Primary School children, to leave the road and finally coming to rest, nose first, in Kassat se Drift alongside the Rheenendal Road, approximately 10km outside Knysna.
According to Keri Davids, spokesperson for Western Cape Government Health’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the driver was transporting 58 children to Rheenendal Primary School, when he lost control of the vehicle.
“According to EMS and Forensic Pathology Services (FPS) personnel on the scene, 14 children and the bus driver were recovered from the river and have been declared dead on arrival,” she explained.
Andre Visser, ER24 spokesperson explained “Paramedics found one child that was not breathing and had no pulse. They immediately started with resuscitation efforts, but to no avail as the child was later declared dead at the scene.”
Reports were received of chaos as desperate parents, family and friends of the children rushed to the scene in search of their relatives.
Davids further explained that EMS rescue personnel stabilised the bus while it was still in the river, while rescue divers from both Western Cape Government Health’s EMS and SAPS continued to search for more children in the submerged bus and sludgy river.
“The bodies of the male bus driver and fourteen learners, between the ages of 7 and 14, were taken to Knysna FPS laboratory.”
Davids further explained that the identification process started yesterday, August 24 and would continue today (August 25), “followed by autopsies to ascertain the cause of death.”
Distraught, sobbing parents were seen being comforted by bystanders as news of the deaths of the precious children were received.
One such mother, Olivia Williams, explained that her child had been staying with her grandmother not far from the drift where the accident occurred.
Children who had been passengers on the ill-fated bus, explained how the bus driver had stopped at the top of the hill to collect Williams’ daughter, but before she could get on the bus, it started to roll back down the hill towards the drift. The driver managed to take a run at the hill a second time, at which stage the children on the bus urged her to jump.
She did so in such haste that she left one of her shoes behind, as the bus had already started to roll back down the hill for the second time. This time the driver was, according to the children, unable to stop the bus, causing it to topple to its left side, with the girl still standing in the doorway when the nose of the bus started to slowly sink into the drift in the death of the 14. Motorists passing by minutes after the accident had occurred, stopped and tried to help the scrambling and screaming children out of the river with make-shift ropes.
The shocked and injured learners were transported to the Knysna Provincial Hospital by EMS and ER24 ambulances.
Visser said: “The 42 children were treated at the scene for injuries ranging from scrapes and bruises to suspected back and neck injuries, before being transported to various hospitals in the surrounding area.”
Knysna Motor Strippers, assisted by EMS Rescue, removed the bus from the river. A team of social workers are counseling friends and family of the victims.
Knysna Executive Mayor Georlene Wolmarans commented: “Shocking incidents such as these are always a tragedy, especially when there are children involved.” She explained that she was unable to comment on the cause of the accident, but would like to assure all that her thoughts and prayers were with those who have been so sadly touched by this accident. A visibly shaken and ashen-faced Eleanor Bouw-Spies, Knysna’s previous mayor, was also at the scene, comforting a heartbroken mother.
Hospital
Several traumatised families, who had been transported to the Knysna Provincial Hospital sat huddled together awaiting news of their children’s fate. An eyewitness told the Knysna-Plett Herald how families visibly held their breath on the arrival of every ambulance. They waited desperately hoping to hear their child’s name being called out, as this would mean that the child, although possibly injured, was still alive.
A young boy, possibly between the age of nine or ten years-old, sat alongside anxious parents, staring vacantly ahead of him. A bystander retold how this young boy, a passenger on the ill-fated bus, had managed to break a window soon after the accident and pulled out fellow learners. She further told how a mother had been waiting for news of her child and with every new arrival her face became more anxious as she realised that her child had not yet been found.
According to this witness one of the Rheenendal Primary School teachers finally called the mother to tell her that she had witnessed the body of the child being covered when she visited the scene.
“They might as well just kill me today – I cannot carry on without my child. He was all I lived for!” the mother sobbed unconsolably.
The empathy in that waiting room was palpable as parents of the surviving children supported those who had lost a child and those who were still anxiously awaiting news of the fate of their children. Parents were discussing how the bus driver usually picked up some of the children en route to the school, and then dropped them off before heading out to fetch more children.
They were mystified as to why the driver had decided to do only one run on that fateful day.
Magda Williams, Rheenendal councilor was visibly traumatised by what greeted her at the scene and through her tears said, “The Community of Rheenendal and Keurhoek are so close to one another that we all feel as if we all had a child on that bus. My door and my heart are open to the families that have been struck by this tragedy.”
Knysna Acting Municipal Manager Lauren Waring, who was on the scene shortly after the tragedy, explained: “All essential services are on the scene and there is full cooperation between the various spheres of emergency services.” She further assured that an official statement would be released by the relevant authorities once more information became available. In closing she added, “At the moment our priorities are to assist the injured and comfort those affected by this incident.”
Praveen Sing, manager of African Express, was contacted for comment, but declined, saying that he had visited the doctor after hearing of the accident as he was in a state of shock. He said that he would provide the media with a statement at a later stage.
ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD REPORTER
Photos: Anoeshka van der Meck View Photos Here
Source: The Knysna-Plett Herald