The owner of the bus involved in the tragic crash on the Van Rhyns Pass, which killed 10 people and left 29 others in hospital, said the vehicle was roadworthy and that the accident was probably due to driver error.
The bus crashed around 5:20pm on the R27 between kilometre marks 37 and 38, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Also read: Bus crash on Vanrhyns Pass results in 10 fatalities, several more injured
At the time, it was speculated that passengers hailed from Upington, Kenhardt and Keimoes in the Northern Cape and were en route to Ceres in the Western Cape.
In its coverage of the accident, IOL confirmed that 38 construction workers were being transported to the Scatec solar plant in Ceres when the bus veered off the pass.
According to a witness on the scene, the vehicle lost a wheel, crashed through the metal barrier and plummeted down to the foot of the mountain.
Torido Williams, who is based in the Northern Cape and who is the owner of the bus, told Cape Argus the vehicle was in good condition and puts the incident down to driver error.
He was hired by solar company Scatec to transport employees to the company’s solar plant in Ceres.
‘I’m still in the dark; I don’t know what happened because my driver is still in the hospital. I went to the accident site. The bus was roadworthy, went through a test two months ago, it had the licence, it had the permit and it had insurance,’ he told Cape Argus.
Also read:
South African Navy employee arrested for DUI in Simon’s Town crash
Picture: Screenshot of video taken at the scene / Supplied / Car Towing Services