Victims of the Tongaat bus tragedy named

Lilly Perumal, Steven Sannassee and Frank James are the three passengers who died when Reddy's Bus crashed through the safety barriers and veered off a bridge in Maidstone, Tongaat, on Tuesday morning. 

The bus driver survived and 15 passengers were injured. 

Perumal, 54, of Burbreeze, who worked as a machinist at Celrose Clothing for 15 years, travelled in the same bus every morning. 

Her son, Denzil Perumal, 32, a supervisor at Celrose Clothing, said he was returning home from work after working the night-shift when he saw the accident. 

“I saw a crowd of people and asked them what had happened. When I looked down, I saw the bus. I ran home to ask my family if my mum went to work and they confirmed that she had. I tried calling her on her cellphone but she did not answer. 

“That's when I went back to the scene. I saw my mum unconscious and covered with rubble. I ran to her and started removing the rubble but a bus panel was stuck on her. We all tried to move it but we couldn't. I kept shaking her to wake up but she didn’t. They told me she had passed. It was such a shocking scene that I am still struggling to understand,” said Denzil. 

His mother's funeral is expected to be held on Friday. 

Sannassee and James were also from Burbreeze. 

Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements in KZN, said the bus driver and the bus owner needed to take responsibility for the accident. 

In a statement, he said an investigation into the roadworthiness of the bus would be conducted in conjunction with the Road Traffic Management Corporation and South African Police Service. 

THE POST