Westdene dam disaster

The Westdene dam disaster was a bus accident that took place in Westdene, near Johannesburg, South Africa, on 27 March 1985.

The accident

The driver of a double decker bus lost control and the bus crashed through barriers into the Westdene dam, about three miles from the centre of Johannesburg. A witness said it appeared a tire blew out, sending the bus swerving into another vehicle before it smashed through a fence and plunged into the reservoir. The bus was transporting students from the local high school (Hoërskool Vorentoe^[1]).

About 3,000 people, including dozens of tearful parents, gathered near the scene as doctors and nurses battled to revive children pulled from the submerged bus. Police said 39 students drowned in the bus and two died later in hospital. Children traveling in another bus said some students trapped on the upper deck managed to break windows and swim to safety. ^[1]

Investigation

The driver, Willem Horne, could not remember what had happened and was acquitted. ?

Casualties

The following children lost their lives in the disaster:

Blignaut, Anna
Botha, Anne-Lize
Botha, Henrietta
Brown, Caroline
Coetzee, Denise
Dreyer, Hendrik
Du Plooy, Linda
Du Plooy, Reinette
Du Toit, Francois
Els, Jacobus
Erasmus, Karen
Fritz, Francina
Horn, Adriana
Hurwitz, Jacqueline
Jacobs, Anel
Jooste, Lelanie
Kleinhans, Adre
Koen, Petrus
Kruger, Clasina
Kruger, Maria
Lira, Riaan
Ludick, Madeleine
Mans, Cornelius
Marshall, Elmarie
Marx, Conrad
McLaughlin, Belinda
Meyer, Catharina
Miles, Mary-Ann
Morris, Anna
Ouwenkamp, Albertus
Pieters, Tanya
Pretorius, Connie
Pretorius, Elizabeth
Rautenbach, Thelma
Reynders, Hester
Strydom, Charl
Swanepoel, Vinette
Swart, Andries
Van Der Westhuizen, Petrus
Van Heerden, Elsa
Van Tonder, Anna
Venter, Deon

References

Joburgnews

1 2 "SOUTH AFRICAN CRASH KILLS 41 JOHANNESBURG". The New York Times. 28 March 1985. Retrieved 23 December 2009.

External links

Coordinates: 26°10′45″S 27°59′28″E / 26.17917°S 27.99111°E / -26.17917; 27.99111

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