De Doorns, Western Cape – The double-decker bus came careering down the Hex River valley outside De Doorns, the driver fighting desperately to keep control as bend after bend rushed up.

There were only two more bends to negotiate but the second-to-last bend was a hairpin and the Atlantic City Liners bus crashed into the mountainside on Friday morning.

By Friday night the death toll stood at 24 in one of the worst road accidents in South African history. Eight passengers were critically injured, 14 seriously injured and 44 others sustained minor to moderate injuries. Two of the dead were children. The bus driver was also among the dead.

Kenny Africa, provincial traffic chief, said: “Apparently the bus was coming from the Beaufort West side towards Cape Town. It is evident that halfway down the pass the driver had problems with the brakes because he went on to the arrester bed, which is used when vehicles have trouble stopping. But he went through the arrester bed down the pass.”

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