A Senseless Tragedy

When a school bus drove into the Westdene Dam in Johannesburg.

The day my son, Emile, was born, a school bus drove into the Westdene Dam in Johannesburg. The driver lost control of the bus, as it crashed through the barriers and then plunged into the dam. Forty-two children died that day.

I watched a documentary a few weeks ago, where the survivors were interviewed and recalled their ordeal. Everything happened so fast, they only had a couple of minutes before the bus went underwater. One teenager managed to kick out the back window and dove back in to save his sister and others, but only 30 children survived the tragedy.

The survivors said they at first felt panic when the water rose above their heads. They had no sense of direction because the water was murky and they couldn’t see anything. Because of the limited visibility, they had no idea where the emergency exit was located. They lost consciousness before they could escape.

They recounted that when they realized they were going to die, a feeling of calm descended over them. They accepted the fact, and when they lost consciousness, it was with a sense of peace. They were resuscitated on the roof of the bus as volunteers fought to save them.

Firefighters and rescue personnel were called by onlookers, some of whom dove in to rescue the children. Because of the murky water, they couldn’t see and had to grope around the water for bodies and children who could be saved. One volunteer recalled that after about 30 minutes, it was too late to rescue, and it became a recovery.

Forty-two bodies were recovered by volunteers and rescue personnel that day. Parents had no idea if their child was one of the survivors or a victim. The children were all taken to a local hospital, where I gave birth to my son that morning.

The school secretary volunteered to identify the bodies at the hospital, in the confusion that ensued. The surviving children were admitted to the hospital. Nobody had any information for the parents, and they had to wait in agony to hear if their child was one of the drowned victims. Many parents lost more than one child that day. While the names of the victims were called out, they prayed their children were saved.

The rescue services weren’t prepared for something of this magnitude, and the hospital wasn’t equipped to handle that many patients. The chaos at the scene of the accident and the hospital where the children were taken, caused unimaginable stress to all involved.

Most of the survivors who were interviewed for this documentary suffered from survivor’s guilt. Some of them lost their brothers and sisters that fateful day. I can’t begin to understand how broken these parents were. To have lost a child or children in such a senseless accident.

Namaste