65 dead in South African bus crash

PRETORIA: At least 65 people were killed when a bus plunged into a reservoir in South Africa’s central Free State province Thursday morning, the transport ministry confirmed.

“We’ve got a team at the accident scene that is reporting to us. The last number they gave us was between 65 and 70 bodies,” transport spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya told AFP.

“We are not quite sure how many people were on the bus. Initial reports said around 80 but we are waiting for a final report from our team.”

Ten survivors, some who had managed to crawl onto the roof of the bus, as it lay submerged in the reservoir’s waters, were taken to hospital. The bus was transporting members of the country’s largest trade union movement, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), from Northern Cape province to attend a May Day rally in Qwa Qwa, near Bethlehem. —AFP

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