The eight-year-old girl from neighbouring Botswana, the only survivor of the bus crash where 45 Botswana nationals died in Limpopo, has been discharged from hospital.
On Wednesday morning, the Standard 4 learner Lorraine Atlang Siako was escorted by several medical care workers, government officials and members of the media as she arrived at the Polokwane International Airport, to catch an hour-long connecting flight to the OR Tambo International Airport in Joburg.
From Joburg, Lorraine and her mother are scheduled to catch the flight to Botswana where they are based.
IOL previously reported tragedy struck near Mamatlakala, in Limpopo, on Thursday evening after a bus ferrying Botswana nationals careened out of control, killing 45 people and injuring the only survivor – Lorraine.
The ill-fated bus was transporting Botswana citizens, from the capital Gaborone to the popular Saint Engenas Zion Christian Church (ZCC) for the annual Easter service attended by throngs of people from different parts of the world.
Speaking to broadcaster eNCA, Limpopo MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba said the little girl has undergone an operation in Limpopo, and has now been given the green light to travel back home.
“Yesterday, when she had fully recovered and her wounds were satisfactorily (healed) such that we can discharge her, when I had a conversation with her, she could now start narrating what she remembers – the bus speeding. I am sure it was the time the driver was trying to negotiate on the road,” said the MEC who is also a medical doctor.
“All she remembers is that she was carried and thrown out through the window. The grandmother here probably sacrificed her life and saved her granddaughter,” she said.
“This is a very intelligent child who is beginning to remember. It is just unfortunate that she said after that (being thrown out of the moving bus) she blacked off and she remembers when she was with us at the hospital. She is quite an intelligent child.”
When she gained consciousness, Lorraine managed to recite her mother’s phone numbers in Botswana and the parent was contacted.
“You can see this is a very smart, and very special child,” said Ramathuba.
At the time of the crash, the first-born child was travelling with her grandmother to the ZCC’s Moria enclave in Limpopo. The grandmother and all other passengers perished in the horrific crash.
According to preliminary reports, the driver lost control of the bus, causing it to collide with barriers on a bridge. This caused the bus to plunge over the edge and catch fire upon impact with the ground.
IOL