Ramathuba: Repatriation of 45 Limpopo bus crash victims will give Botswana closure
The 45 Botswana nationals, who were making their way to Moria for an annual Easter pilgrimage, died when the bus they were travelling in plunged off a bridge and caught fire.
What remains of a bus after it crashed at the Mma Matlakala Bridge in Limpopo on 28 March 2024. Picture: Facebook/Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety
JOHANNESBURG - Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba said the repatriation of the 45 victims of a bus crash from the province will give the people of Botswana closure.
The 45 people died when the bus they were travelling in plunged off a bridge and caught fire.
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The passengers were making their way to Moria for an annual Easter pilgrimage.
An 8-year-old was the sole survivor of the crash. She said she remembers being carried and thrown out of the window of a moving bus.
Two aircraft from Botswana arrived at the Polokwane International Airport to repatriate the remains of the 45 nationals.
Ramathuba said identifying the bodies had been a gruelling process but she was thankful that the families would finally find closure.
“Finally, the people of Botswana will find closure because they will receive the bodies of their loved ones, where they will start with the preparation of the funerals.”
Ramathuba also lauded the forensic system in South Africa, saying it was efficient.
"This particular situation has been able to demonstrate the capacity that our scientific processes of DNA sampling does have."