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Articles: 'I am just grateful to be alive'

Posted by admin on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 09:16 AM

27/12/2006 09:03 - (SA)

Bheki Mbanjwa Pietermaritzburg - Survivors of Sunday's bus crash that claimed the lives of 12 people say the bus driver was speeding.

Speaking to The Witness in Grey's Hospital where he is being treated, one of the passengers, Isaac Baipone, 44, of Johannesburg, said on Tuesday that the driver was speeding excessively. "I cannot estimate the speed he was travelling at, but you could tell by the way he was overtaking smaller vehicles on the road that he was speeding. It was not a comfortable ride." Baipone, who was on his to visit his wife at Inchanga, is one of the 40-odd passengers who are lucky to be alive after the driver of a SA Roadlink bus, travelling from Johannesburg to Durban, lost control and crashed into the pillars of the bridge on the N3 near the Liberty Midlands Mall at about 04:20 on Sunday. "I had just phoned my wife and I could feel the driver applying the brakes. He must have applied them hard as we were left with this uneasy feeling. The bus could not stop, it was travelling too fast. Suddenly people were screaming and there was this huge bang." Bus losing control Baipone, who suffered fractures to both his legs, said he was left hanging upside down, with his left foot entangled in some wires. "There was lots and lots of blood. I shouted to one lady who was consciousto untie my leg. I was able to get out, after she cut the wire. I am just grateful to be alive." The allegation that the driver was speeding was supported by Wellington Manana, also of Johannesburg, who - together with his wife - was on his way to a wedding in Pietermaritzburg. "I can't remember much but the driver was definitely speeding before the accident happened. I felt the bus losing control, swaying on the road and suddenly this big bang is all I heard. I was left trapped inside the bus but my wife managed to get out through the bus window," said Manana, who is also being treated at Grey's Hospital. The 34-year-old driver, who was in police custody on Tuesday, is not new to controversy, according to Transport MEC, Bheki Cele, who said the man was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol last year, when he was caught driving while seven times over the legal alcohol limit. Cele said he was "very disappointed with the bus company for allowing a person who was charged with drinking and driving before to be behind the steering wheel". He added that a follow-up investigation has been instituted on this matter. Names of deceased not released Asked for comment on the matter, Lee Sarugaser, spokesperson for SA Roadlink, could neither deny nor confirm the previous conviction of the driver. "That (the alleged drunk driving conviction) is not related to the accident. After this accident he was tested for alcohol and was found to be below the legal limit," Sarugaser said. All the injured were treated at Grey's, Northdale and St Anne's hospitals where they were said to be in a stable condition. Police spokesperson Superintendent Joshua Gwala said the cause of the accident had not been established by Tuesday. He said the names of the deceased had not been released as they are still to be identified by their next-of-kin on Wednesday. The deceased included three children aged between seven and 15. The nine adults killed were aged between 20 and 45 years. Gwala said the bus driver, who has been charged with 12 counts of culpable homicide, was expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

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