Celebrity Breeze Bringing you fascinating stories
Related Articles
In a harrowing first-hand account, a survivor of the Limpopo bus crash that claimed 43 lives has described a journey plagued by mechanical issues and passenger concerns that were dismissed just hours before the vehicle sped out of control and overturned.
Appearing on a podcast hosted by DJ Sparks Zw with her arm in a sling and a bandage on her head, the woman provided a chilling timeline of the bus’s final, terrifying moments. Her testimony, delivered in Shona, offers the most detailed public narrative yet of what may have led to the tragedy on October 12th.
The crash, one of the deadliest in recent South African history, occurred on the N1 highway near Makhado (Louis Trichardt). The bus was carrying over 90 passengers en route to Malawi.
“The Bus Is Alright”
The survivor recounted that long before the crash, passengers were alarmed by unsettling noises and vibrations.
“The bus started making a strange noise, like something grinding,” she stated in the interview. She described a persistent shaking that prompted several passengers to voice their fears to the crew. They pleaded with the drivers to either fix the bus or arrange for a different one.
According to her account, their concerns were dismissed. “They said, ‘No, the bus is alright,’ and so we carried on,” she explained.
The journey continued, but the sense of unease remained. She noted that the bus stopped at the tollgate in Polokwane, where the drivers switched, before proceeding toward the mountainous region where the accident would occur.
A Final, Fatal Descent
The situation deteriorated rapidly as the bus began its descent on the mountainous pass near Louis Trichardt.
“As it was going down the mountain, the bus started speeding… it was running fast,” she recounted. Passengers grew panicked, shouting for the driver to reduce his speed.
Her testimony points to a catastrophic failure at the worst possible moment. As the bus entered a curve, an oncoming car appeared. The driver, she said, was left with an impossible choice.
“The driver tried to swerve to avoid it… and he went off the road,” she said. It was in this moment, just after 4pm, that the bus left the highway and tumbled down the embankment.
The survivor said the prevailing belief among those on board was that the vehicle had suffered a complete brake failure, a fear that had been discussed earlier in the journey. Her account provides a crucial human perspective as South African authorities continue their official investigation into the cause of the crash.
This article is based on factual statements made during the DJ Sparks Zw podcast interview.
