Provincial authorities said an 8-year-old girl, who was the one survivor of a bus crash that killed 44 Botswana worshipers during an Easter pilgrimage to South Africa, is in stable condition with minor injuries.
While investigators continued to look the wreckage to get better bodies and determine the cause of the crash, family and friends of the deceased were still trying to grasp what happened to their family members.
The faithful were traveling from the Christian church of St. Engenas Zion in Molepolole, a village about an hour from Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, on Thursday when a driver lost control of the vehicle on a sharp curve in a mountainous region in northeastern South Africa.
Authorities said the bus fell 55 meters from an overpass and crashed into a rocky ravine, where it burst into flames. The driver also died.
Segametsi David, a church elder, said congregants usually made pilgrimages to the denomination’s headquarters in Moria, South Africa, but never traveled the winding, mountainous route where the accident occurred.
She said Ms David walked across the neighborhood on Friday, meeting with the victims’ families.
“We cried last night,” she said. “We have no tears at the moment. We are just trying to give comfort to those who have lost loved ones. But it’s difficult.”
The girl who survived grew up in the church because her parents were very active and she “loved God,” Ms. David said. Ms. David added that she was traveling with her grandmother to South Africa.
Emergency services found the girl outside the bus who suffered minor injuries to her arms, legs, head and back, said Thilivhali Muavha, spokesman for Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, an official supervising the Department of Health in Limpopo province, where the accident occurred.
Muavha said authorities are yet to determine how the girl, who has not been publicly identified, managed to survive such a devastating accident.
“We can only say that we are glad that she was found alive,” he said.
South African police confirmed on Friday that all 45 passengers on the bus and the driver were Botswana nationals and had traveled to South Africa from Molepolole, a village considered the gateway to the vast Kalahari Desert.
The statement states that the police are investigating the accident as a case of culpable homicide, although it does not provide further details.
Police said 34 bodies had been recovered as of Friday afternoon. Only nine of them were identified, the rest burned beyond recognition.
The tragedy cast a dark cloud over Botswana, a largely Christian nation of about 2.5 million that was preparing to celebrate Easter weekend.
Zion Christian Church is the largest denomination in South Africa. The annual Easter pilgrimage to the Church headquarters in Moria, South Africa, usually attracts millions of visitors.
“It’s a disaster,” said Lemogang Kwape, Botswana’s foreign minister. “What happened touched us very much, especially that people were supposed to rejoice in the Lord.”
Kwape said his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, called him to inform him of the situation. He said the Church of Zion is not only the main religious denomination in Botswana, but is also involved in community development, including the construction of medical clinics.
According to data from Africa, in the past the road death rate was one of the very best in the world world Bank and World Health ORganisation.
