The crippling industrial action by public servants could not deter local rescue workers to give immediate care on Wednesday morning to victims trapped in wreckage at Ha-Manabela.

Rescue workers had to use "Jaws of Life" to cut away the wrecked bakkie and get the victims trapped underneath a Phadziri Bus Service at the sharp curve of the T-junction at Ha-Manabela to Zamenkomste out.

The accident happened at about 07:30. Mirror learnt that the bus was carrying a group of school children of Wilmary, a private school situated at Ha-Kutama and it was en route to collect several others at Zamenskomste. The learners and the bus driver survived the fatal accident without injuries.

It took rescue workers several hours to remove the trapped victims from the wreckage. When the bakkie crashed into the bus, its roof was removed, the car´s frame was also badly broken, while its broken doors were removed by cutters and spreaders by emergency personnel.

Four of the five victims from the yellow bakkie died on the spot, while one passenger was removed from the wreckage with serious injuries and rushed to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital.

The five victims went to Ha- Manabela on Tuesday to visit and pray for the pensioner, Mrs Meriam Mashamba, who is alleged to be constantly sick. Amongst the victims was a pastor of Apostolic Faith Mission Church from Fondwe and his wife.

According to the police, the pastor is the only one who survived the fatal crash. A speechless Mashamba confirmed that the five came to her house to pray and to inform her about the funeral of a close relative.

Mirror also discovered that three of the victims are from Fondwe, one from Shayandima and the last one from Tshirenzheni. The police promised to release the names of the deceased after they have informed their families.

The Municipal Manager of Makhado Municipality, Ms Faith Muthambi said: "This is terrible and heart breaking, I don´t know, but as a municipality, we need to do something about the disastrous accident taking place in our municipal roads" Without judging anybody, Muthambi said that drivers need to take all pre-cautionary measures on the roads all the time.