Zim Man Survives Limpopo Horror Crash
20 February 2023
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By- A Zimbabwean man who is one of the survivors of the Limpopo bus crash that claimed at least 21 lives and left more than 60 people injured has described the accident as the “worst event” he has seen in his 59 years of life.

Jacob Sibanda said it was God’s choice to keep him alive or take his life together with the 21 others.

The bus collided head-on with a cash-in-transit van that was allegedly trying to overtake another vehicle on the N1 outside Louis Trichardt in Limpopo.

The bus rolled off a bridge and into a river during the collision outside the Hendrik Verwoerd tunnel heading towards Musina on Monday evening.

New Zimbabwe cites law enforcement officials as saying the bus was ferrying passengers from Louis Trichardt to nearby villages including Nzhelele, Tshikombani and Siloam.

The Zimbabwean national told Pretoria News yesterday that he was trying to get hold of his wife in Zimbabwe to inform her that he had survived the Limpopo bus crash. 

Sibanda lives in Louis Trichardt and was going to meet his wife to hand over groceries for their children in Zimbabwe.

I cannot remember what happened. I normally take the food to Beit Bridge where I meet my wife. But this time it was decided that she take a bus to Siloam so we could exchange parcels here because I needed to be at work in the evening.

This must have been the worst moment of my life. It was horrific because my eyes were wide open, but I don’t remember a thing. There was a loud bang and the next thing I remember I was in water and being carried by people.

I don’t know how I ended up in the water. I truly thought I was dead. I’m very happy to be alive because it was God’s will.

Sibanda, a self-employed merchant in Louis Trichardt, was among the few who sustained mild injuries. Others are still in critical condition in Siloam and Elim hospitals.

Paramedics and rescue personnel were able to retrieve 19 bodies from the crash.

Two other people died in hospital while the search for others in the nearby rivers continues as some were swept away.