Twenty people were killed and 68 other injured when a tour bus and a cash-in-transit van collided on the N1 to Louis Trichardt in Limpopo on Monday night.
Ross Campbell, an ER24 spokesperson said the the bus then rolled from the freeway bridge into the river below, landing on its left side.
“ER24 paramedics were on the scene at 20:05 with the Fire Department, Provincial EMS and Rescue and several other private EMS services. The scene was still active at the time of this report (at midnight) , with several passengers still possibly unaccounted for,” Campbell said.
“One patient, of the 69 passengers confirmed transported to hospital for various injuries, has since died. Three people were found deceased by the roadside and 16 down by the river – all were declared dead on arrival. Most of the fatalities down by the river had been trapped under the bus,” he said.
The exact details surrounding the collision were unknown but police were investigating.
The crash occurred during heavy rains in the area and it was unclear if that was a contributing factor to the crash.
It came just hours after the government announced another national state of disaster to deal with widespread flooding across the country.
In a statement on Monday night, the Presidency said the declaration would enable “an intensive, coordinated response” to the impact of floods in Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Northern Cape, and North West regions.
The South African Weather services is warning that persistent and heavy rain this week could cause localised flooding.
IOL