The 2020 Centane Bus Accident was a road accident in

Centane Centane, formerly Kentane or Kentani is a settlement in Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated at approximately from Butterworth. History Centane was the site of the battle of Centane o ...

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

that occurred on March 2, 2020. 25 people were killed and approximately 62 were injured when a 65-seater bus plunged into a deep gorge. The bus had been travelling from Cebe village heading to

Butterworth Butterworth may refer to: Places * Butterworth (ancient township), a former township centred on Milnrow, in the then Parish of Rochdale, England, United Kingdom * Butterworth, Eastern Cape, now also known as Gcuwa, a town located in South Africa ...

. According to witness accounts from the survivors, the bus, which was mainly transporting pensioners and young children and was allegedly overloaded, veered off the gravel road and plunged into a deep gorge, killing 25 people including the driver. The eastern cape transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said that passengers had complained to the driver about the speed at which he was going. A number of injured passengers were airlifted to nearby hospitals. The accident sent shockwaves across South Africa. The president of the country

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

offered his condolences to families of the victims involved in the accident. The Minister of Transport also offered his condolences.

Aftermath

President Cryil Ramaphosa promised to improve the infrastructure in Centane. On 13 March 2020, a

mass burial A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

was held for the victims.

References

Eastern Cape 2020 in South Africa Road incidents in South Africa {{disaster-stub