Police yesterday began the task of identifying the bodies of 26 British tourists and a guide killed in a horrific bus crash in South Africa's Mpumalanga province.
Three of the survivors of the elderly tourist group are still in a critical condition in Nelspruit Medi-Clinic Hospital. The three - a man and two women - all underwent surgery. Both women have head injuries and the man has multiple fractures.
The other survivors, including the bus driver, are being treated in a separate hospital and are recovering.
Monday's crash saw the tourists' coach plunge off a scenic winding road in Long Tom Pass and plough down a slope, ripping the roof off the vehicle and scattering passengers and their belongings.
Initial indications from the driver, who survived, were that brake failure may have caused the accident.
Twenty-three tourists were killed instantly and another four people died later in hospital. The accident has prompted calls for quick government action to improve road safety. It was the fifth fatal bus crash in South Africa in a week, with the total death toll reaching 59. The safety issue was highlighted by another bus crash yesterday morning in the Eastern Cape province in which 21 people were injured.
The transport minister, Mr Dullah Omar, who had already announced a national investigation into traffic safety, said he would begin an immediate inquiry into Monday's accident.
Last year more than 9,000 people died and 400,000 were injured on South Africa's roads.