Bus Crash Kills 24 Church Members in South Africa, Because of Faulty Brakes

Bus crash kills at least 24 people, including two children in South Africa on Friday which traveling from Cape Town to Secunda.

The double-decker bus carrying a church group veered off the road as the driver lost control of the bus approaching a curve rolling over and crashed in a mountainous pass around 90 miles from Cape Town.

The bus was carrying more than 60 passengers belonged to the Khayelitsha church group. Around 45 people were injured and taken to the hospital.

A crane was used to lift the bus by rescue teams and cut away the bus exterior to allow victims be pulled out from the overturned wreckage in the Hex River pass.

"Twenty-three died on the scene and one person on the way to hospital," Western Cape health spokeswoman Faiza Steyn was quoted as saying.

"A lot of the passengers were trapped under the bus, we had to use a huge crane to lift the bus to get the passengers out underneath," said provincial traffic services head Kenny Africa.

"He collided with the mountainside so they had to cut some of the body parts of the bus to free the people that were trapped inside," he added.

The accident seems to be caused by a braking problem, as the driver attempted to stop the busy by entering a sandy, slowing lane. However it failed and lost control as the bus landed on its side against the mountain.

"This is a terrible tragedy. We urge people to be extra cautious when it is raining and to follow all the rules of the road," IFP spokesman Petros Sithole told the South African Press Agency.

"The traffic cops and police should investigate whether the bus was overloaded and if so, we would expect the necessary criminal charges to be laid against the bus driver," he added.