The heart of a lion. Courageous. Fearless. All these words fail to describe the bravery of Ben Musekwa from Musina, who played an instrumental role in the rescue of more than 30 injured people who were involved in the horrific accident near the Hendrik Verwoerd tunnels on the N1 north last week, where 22 people lost their lives.
With visible scratches on his hands and walking with difficulty after his heroic acts, Musekwa recalled his own experiences on that tragic day: "I was on my way from Louis Trichardt to Musina when I saw a crowd of people standing next to the road. As I drew closer, I realised that a very serious accident had just taken place. I parked my car next to the road and walked closer, only to find that a bus full of people had rolled down an embankment and into a river. There were people still struggling to get out. I didn't even hesitate but immediately made my way down the slippery embankment to join the emergency workers who were trying to rescue those trapped inside the bus."
He said some of the victims were trying to get out of the bus through the windows but had difficulty doing so as many of them were injured. "Despite the wet and slippery conditions, we managed to pull out more than 30 people from the wreckage and get them to the waiting emergency vehicles. While we were busy getting the victims out, I heard the screams of a woman who was injured and being swept away by the strong current in the river. I jumped into the water and grabbed her hand, but the current was too strong. We almost drowned as both of us were swept away for a few metres, until members of the emergency team rescued us from the deep waters. I was happy that I had risked my life to save her because, had I not jumped into the water, she would have been swept away," he said.
On his way back up the embankment, he found a young boy sitting on the side of the road, crying that that his mother and sister were still trapped inside the bus. "I went back to look for the mother and sister, but what I saw was very traumatic. I didn't know what to tell the young boy because his family members had perished in the accident. Despite all the risks that I have taken, I thank the Lord for giving me the courage and strength to help save the lives of as many people as possible."
He said that the most disturbing thing about the incident was that, while they were desperately trying to save lives under very difficult conditions, people were busy taking photos and videos. "I found this very shameful and unacceptable," he said.