A Health Official said 21 people died when a bus veered off a gravel road; and plunged down a hillside in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province on Monday.
“I cannot confirm the numbers, as our people are still working,” South Africa’s Regional Health Department spokesman, Sizwe Kupelo, said.
The accident scene is difficult for rescue workers to access as the bus overturned; after plunging 200 metres down the steep slope, he said.
It is thought that there are still people trapped in the vehicle.
The bus, which was picking up passengers in a rural area on their way to the town of Butterworth; was the only vehicle involved in the accident, Kupelo said.
According to the national Road Traffic Management Corporation, which was updating news of the accident on its Twitter channel; the exact cause of the accident had not yet been established.
Road accidents are common in South Africa and many other African nations; due to reckless driving and poor conditions of public transport vehicles and roads.
