- Bethlehem bus crash
The Bethlehem bus crash was one of the worst vehicle accidents of all time, when a coach drove into a reservoir near the town of
Bethlehem, South Africa , killing 80 passengers on1 May 2003 .Overview
The bus was transporting 90 trade union delegates to
May Day celebrations in the town of Bethlehem in theFree State , when the driver became disoriented in the dark. Hopelessly lost, he appears to have turned accidentally onto an unlit gravel path, which led to a precipice on the Saulspoort Dam overlooking the reservoir. The driver was apparently travelling much too fast to stop when the bus careened off the edge, falling into the water below.The remote location of the accident, combined with the old bus's inadequate safety provisions meant that just ten people escaped the vehicle alive, all of them injured in the crash. The bus sank rapidly following impact with the water, and 80 people were dragged down with it, trapped inside the vehicle. Police did not arrive until the following morning after being notified by survivors, but were only able to recover the bodies of the dead and retrieve the bus as part of their investigation of the tragedy.
Aftermath
President
Thabo Mbeki held a minute's silence for the dead at his May Day speech the following day, and the dead were buried together in a mass funeral at Weseinde cemetery in Kimberley. The cause of the crash was believed to be negligence on the driver's part, in his failure to prepare a route through a hazardous area, which was compounded by a lack of signs and gates on the dam's access roads. The bus too was an old model, and did not possess efficient emergency exits or safety equipment, as well as suffering from poor brakes, which may have conrtributed to the disaster.See also
*
List of road accidents External links
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/mayday/story/0,7369,947205,00.html Guardian News Report]
* [http://www.sabcnews.com/features/bus_tragedy/ SABC News Report]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/01/1051382050222.html SMH News Report]
* [http://www.transport.gov.za/comm-centre/news/2003/nz0704.html News Report on Aftermath]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
