JOHANNESBURG: A bus veered off a road and plunged down an embankment on a steep mountain pass in northern South Africa, killing at least 42 people and leaving another 49 passengers injured, authorities said Monday.

The crash happened around 6 pm Sunday on the N1 highway near the town of Louis Trichardt, around 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of the capital, Pretoria.

Seven children

The Transport Ministry said in a statement that the victims included seven children, 17 men and 18 women.

It said six people were critically injured and another 31 had serious injuries and had been taken to several hospitals. One critically injured child was airlifted to a hospital, the ministry said.

Images released by authorities showed the blue bus lying upside down in the embankment with rescuers working underneath it to search for victims. The Limpopo provincial government said rescue operations continued late into Sunday night.

The bus was traveling to Zimbabwe and was carrying Zimbabwean and Malawian nationals who were on their way to their home countries, the Transport Ministry said. It said the cause of the crash was not yet known.

‘Deep condolences’

In a statement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa offered “his deep condolences to the nations of Zimbabwe and Malawi who have lost compatriots.”

“This sadness is compounded by the fact that this incident has taken place during our annual transport month, where we place a special focus on the importance of safety on our roads," Ramaphosa said.

Last year, 45 people were killed in a bus crash in the same Limpopo province when their vehicle veered off a bridge and into a ravine. An 8-year-old girl was the only survivor of that crash.

That bus was carrying mainly Botswana nationals who were traveling to an Easter church gathering in South Africa.

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Bus crash in South Africa kills at least 42 people