Following the heavy rains last week, a father and his two children were swept away by strong water after the Nissan 1400 bakkie they were traveling in had fallen off a collapsed bridge on the Pondrift road between Musina and Alldays on Sunday night.

The body of the father was later found about 500m from the scene of the accident. At the time of our going to press, two days after the accident, the police were still working around the clock to recover the children, who are now presumed dead.

The mother of the children and two other occupants of the vehicle were treated for minor injuries and shock at Musina Hospital.

The vehicle was carrying six occupants when it had passed across the bridge earlier that day. When they came back after three hours, they were not aware that the bridge had been swept away.  The driver went straight into the deep water and the vehicle was found covered in sand some distance away.

Still in shock, Ms Nomathemba Sibanda (22) could not hold back her tears as she explained how the horrible accident left her without her husband and two children. “My husband, Hendrick Malithuba, who was driving the vehicle, and my two children, Thapelo (2) and Thabo (1), are now gone. I feel like the world has turned upside down. Life does not mean anything to me without my husband and children.”

Crying heavily, she explained how she survived. “It happened so suddenly that I immediately found myself in the deep waters. I don’t exactly know how I managed to hold some tree branches because the pressure of the water was very strong. I spent the whole night in the cold rain while holding onto the branch of a tree until the water subsided in the morning. I managed to crawl to the road and told a passerby about my ordeal. I later found out that my husband and children were missing.”

Another survivor, Mr David Simatla, said he considered himself very lucky to be alive. “Like lightning, the accident happened so fast that I can’t actually remember what happened. I just found myself holding the trunk of a mopani tree for the whole night until I walked to the road the next morning. I can’t believe that my lovely friend and his two children have been swept away.”

The third survivor, Never Sibanda, could only say: “I will never forget this for the rest of my life. My heart bleeds for those who have been swept away, but I thank God because I’m still alive.”

Lt Peter Mudau of the Musina SAPS confirmed the accident and added that the search for the two children was still continuing.