8-Year-Old Botswana Girl Reveals How She Survived Horrific Bus Accident that Claimed 45 Lives
Eight-year-old Lorraine Atlang Siako, the sole survivor of the tragic bus crash in Limpopo that claimed the lives of 45 Botswana nationals, has been discharged from the hospital.
Details have emerged about how Lorraine, a Standard 4 learner, miraculously survived the accident that occurred near Mamatlakala in Limpopo on Thursday evening. The bus, transporting Botswana citizens from Gaborone to the Saint Engenas Zion Christian Church (ZCC) for the annual Easter service, lost control, resulting in the devastating loss of 45 lives and leaving Lorraine as the only survivor.
Initial reports suggested that Lorraine had suffered amnesia and could not recall the events leading to her survival. In an interview with broadcaster eNCA, Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, the Health MEC for Limpopo, revealed that Lorraine’s memory is gradually returning.
During their conversation, Lorraine shared her recollection of the incident, mentioning that the bus was speeding.
“Yesterday, when she had fully recovered and her wounds were satisfactorily (healed) such that we can discharge her, when I had a conversation with her, she could now start narrating what she remembers – the bus speeding. I am sure it was the time the driver was trying to negotiate on the road,” explained the MEC who is also a medical doctor.
Regarding her survival, Lorraine recounted being carried and thrown out of a window, leading Dr. Ramathuba to speculate that her grandmother likely sacrificed herself to save her granddaughter.
“All she remembers is that she was carried and thrown out through the window. The grandmother here probably sacrificed her life and saved her granddaughter. This is a very intelligent child who is beginning to remember. It is just unfortunate that she said after that (being thrown out of the moving bus) she blacked off and she remembers when she was with us at the hospital. She is quite an intelligent child,” Dr Phophi Ramathuba said.
Despite this ordeal, Lorraine displayed remarkable intelligence as she recited her mother’s phone numbers upon regaining consciousness, enabling authorities to contact her family in Botswana. Lorraine was travelling with her grandmother to the ZCC’s Moria enclave in Limpopo at the time of the crash.
