Bus plunges into flooded river, 50 passengers escape death

MORE than 50 passengers on Monday narrowly escaped death by drowning when an Ajay Motorways bus they were travelling in attempted to cross the flooded Embakwe River in Mangwe following a three-day downpour in the area.

Sources who witnessed the incident said the bus, which plies the Plumtree route, burst its two rear tyres when the daring driver attempted to cross the flooded river whose bridge was under water.

"The bus was crossing the flooded river, but lost track of the bridge in the middle of the river and hit some pillars resulting in the rear wheels bursting," an eye witness said.

Passengers disembarked from the bus in the middle of the river with the assistance of the conductors and other people on the bank, although the bus was still dangerously hanging on the bridge. In the end, all passengers were rescued uninjured. The bus was stuck on the bridge for more than four hours.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Ajay Motorways bus officials downplayed the incident saying it was nothing to write about.

"I can confirm the incident which occurred in Mangwe yesterday (Monday), but no one was injured," a company official who declined to reveal his name, said.

"What do you want to write? I am afraid we will lose passengers if we get bad publicity," he said before requesting to call the reporter after consultations with "others".