South Africa: Limpopo bus tragedy - “One human life lost is one too many,” says Bishop Sipuka
Sheila Pires – Pretoria, South Africa
On Thursday evening, 45 Zion Christian Church pilgrims, all nationals of Botswana died when a passenger bus fell off a bridge in South Africa's northern Limpopo province, police said.
8-year-old lone survivor
South African health officials also said the 8-year-old lone survivor of the bus cras was recovering well.
In a message of condolences, Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka says, “it is very sad to hear of a tragic bus accident of 45 members of the Zion Christian Church from Botswana destined to celebrate Easter at their headquarters in Moria Polokwane.”
“One human life lost is one too many, to say nothing about 45. We feel the pain of the relatives who have lost their loved ones, we assure that we are with them in spirit,” he adds.
Bishop Sipuka says those responsible for the Thursday, 28 March tragic crash “must be held accountable.”
The Lord of life has conquered death
As officials investigate a case of culpable homicide, Bishop Sipuka says If the crash “was due to a natural unavoidable accident, there is nothing that can be done about it, but if it is due to negligence about the physical and mechanical state of the bus, the tiredness of the driver (who is among the deceased) or any other negligence, those responsible must be held accountable.”
“We pray that they will be consoled by the knowledge that they died on their way to celebrate the Lord of life who conquered death, and so even as they have died, they are alive with the Risen Lord. May this thought, as St Paul exhorts us in 1Thes.4:13-18 be a source of consolation,” said Bishop Sipuka.
Sampling DNA for identification underway
He continued, “With the Risen Christ, we celebrate the certainty that the values enunciated in the beatitudes and the supremacy of love will prevail. The devil who rejoices at the destruction of people through sinful life that makes them live below the standard of their dignity will not prevail and the oppression and abuse of the poor will come to an end and a new heaven, and a new earth will come to fulfillment,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, the Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba says although some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, “nine of the bodies recovered from the scene were in a state where they could be identifiable,” and that the process of sampling DNA from the relatives of the deceased is already underway in Botswana.
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