South Africa's Department of Transport said that a bus crash near Mamatlakala resulted in at least 45 deaths on Thursday. Only an eight-year-old survived the crash and was receiving medical attention at a nearby hospital, Limpopo's Department of Transport said in a separate statement.

The crash happened in Mokopane near South Africa’s Limpopo province while the victims were making their way to a popular Easter pilgrimage taking place at the Zion Christian Church in Moria town, according to officials.

In its statement, the ministry alleged that the driver lost control and collided with barriers on the bridge, causing the bus to go over the bridge and hit the ground where it caught fire. It added that the passenger bus was transporting people from Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa, to a town in Limpopo.

Limpopo traffic and road safety official Simon Kekana said on Friday that police were still searching for more bodies under the bus wreckage and that investigations were ongoing. Only 36 bodies have been recovered thus far, according to Kekana.

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