Own Correspondent|A number of long-distance passengers have been left destitute after losing everything when the bus they were travelling in caught fire on the N1 Highway, Southbound, just after William Nicol on Wednesday morning.

The bus was carrying 44 passengers, many of them were women and children, and was en route from Cape Town to Zimbabwe. 

Emergency services have been on the scene to assess the incident.

Department of Transport’s spokesperson, Ayanda Allie-Paine says no injuries or fatalities were reported.

“Passengers lost everything they had saved up for and purchased for their family members back home,” says Allie-Paine. 

Watch below as Allie-Paine speaks to one of the  Zimbabwean national Viola Sunday says she lost all her documentation in the blaze and that her child was her priority when smoke engulfed the passenger bus.

Allie-Paine also shows the aftermath of the fire where passengers are seen trying to salvage what is left of their luggage.