An 8-year-old child is the only survivor after a bus carrying 46 people falls off a bridge, falls into a ravine and catches fire in South Africa.
The Department of Transportation said in a statement late Thursday that the boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries, but his name has not been released.
The vehicle was traveling from neighboring Botswana to Moria in the country’s north.
“It is alleged that the driver lost control and hit the bridge railing, causing the bus to go over the bridge and hit the ground, causing a fire,” the statement said.
Rescue efforts continued late into the night, with some bodies burned beyond recognition and others trapped in the rubble or scattered around the crash site.
Local authorities said the bus had Botswana license plates, but the nationalities of the passengers were still being checked.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga was at the scene of the accident and promised a thorough investigation into the cause.
While South Africa has one of the most developed road networks on the African continent, it also has one of the worst safety records.
Hours before the crash, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africans to be cautious when traveling over the Easter period.
“Let’s do our best to have a safe Easter. This Easter we don’t have to sit idly by and wait for statistics about the tragedies and injuries that occur on our streets,” he said in a statement.
The bus fell off a large bridge connecting two hilly areas near Mamatlakala in Limpopo province, about 190 miles (300 kilometers) north of Johannesburg.
