Muhuyu worshippers’ narrow shave with death

Worshippers on their way to church had a narrow shave with death when the bus they were travelling in caught fire and was completely gutted.

The Dyna 27-seater bus caught fire while transporting worshippers from Muhuyu to church in Thohoyandou. It is suspected that the bus experienced an electrical problem.

The incident took place on Sunday, a fortnight ago, next to Nthetsheleseni Secondary School at Tshivhulani outside Sibasa. One lane of the road was closed for some time, while firefighters tried to save the bus from complete destruction. The bus belongs to Mr Humbulani Mudau of Mudau Transport Services.

The driver of the bus, Mr Fulufhelo Nthangeni, said he was nearing his destination when the bus developed some problems. “Passengers saw sparks coming from the engine, and before we could figure out what was happening, the fire had spread and we could not control it. I used all four the fire extinguishers that I had on the bus but could not stop the fire from spreading. We summoned the local fire brigade, but unfortunately the fire had spread to the whole bus."

Passengers jumped out of the bus and fortunately no one was injured in the incident, but the bus was destroyed.

Mudau, the owner of the bus, who arrived at the scene, did not show any emotion and comforted his driver. He said the damage caused was around R300 000. “This is quite a hefty loss to the company, but we are happy that no one was injured or died in the incident. The bus can be replaced any time, but lives cannot be bought and we have God to thank for the mercy He gave our passengers,” he said.

Date:23 July 2015

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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