The mood was sombre for the hundreds of curious onlookers and family members who kept vigil at the scene of an accident. The mangled wreck under a bus was all that was left of a private car that was involved in a head-on collision with a bus.

Some onlookers wept openly and family members had to be helped by emergency personnel as they were on the verge of breaking down. It was one of the most ghastly accidents ever in the Vhembe area in which a 27-year-old man, Mashudu Mukhinindi, lost his life. Police spokesperson Capt Mashudu Malelo described the accident as one of the most serious to have happened in Vhembe in recent times. He said the accident occurred at about 06:00 on Tuesday morning, when a vehicle, driven by the deceased, collided head on with an oncoming bus near the Mphego intersection along the Punda Maria road, a few kilometers outside Thohoyandou.

The dead driver was alone at the time of the accident and no further injuries were reported. Malelo said it is suspected the private car was overtaking another vehicle when it collided head-on with the bus.

Onlookers who had gathered within minutes were asking each other as to whether any person could come out alive from the mangled wreck. The small private car was dragged for more than 50 meters from where the accident happened before the driver of the bus regained control and stopped. The small car was squashed and remained under the bus for more than two hours. The jaws of life had to be used to free the body from the mangled wreck.

Well-known cleric Dean Alunamutwe Rannditsheni, who was taking his car for service at a nearby car dealer, stopped and had to call the dealer to fetch it from there. "I could not proceed after seeing this horrible accident. To my horror, I recognized the number plate of the car as belonging to someone I know. I became weak and devastated; this is the worst accident I have ever seen," he said. He urged road users to be more responsible as we approach the Easter weekend.