Johannesburg - Twenty-four of the 30 people who were killed in a weekend taxi accident on the N3 freeway near Harrismith have been identified, Free State police said on Sunday.
“Most of the families of the dead came from Tsolo, near Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, to identify the bodies,” Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said.
However, he said the names of the accident victims, who included 10 children, were not immediately available as paper work was still being concluded.
The collision between an overloaded taxi and a truck occurred at 3am on Saturday. Twenty-nine people died on the scene, one of them a baby. Another critically injured passenger from the truck died later in hospital.
Mophiring said the mother of an 18-month-old baby who was injured in the crash, was found to be among the other survivors in hospital.
He could not immediately confirm the exact total number of survivors still in hospital or their condition, but Mophiring said the truck driver was discharged later on Saturday.
Families were urged to identify the six remaining bodies at the state mortuary in Phuthaditjhaba.
Mophiring said the taxi had been carrying 35 people, but was only certified to carry 23.
It was believed that the driver had lost control of the minibus on a curve along the road and veered into oncoming traffic.
Seven people were admitted at various hospitals in a serious condition. The taxi was on its way from Johannesburg to Mthatha.
Police were investigating a case of culpable homicide. - Sapa