[1] Hopelessly lost, he appears to have turned accidentally onto an unlit gravel path, which led straight onto a jetty into the Saulspoort Dam.

Because of the remote location of the accident and the old bus's inadequate safety provisions, just ten people escaped the vehicle alive, all of them injured in the crash.

[2] Police did not arrive until the following morning after being notified by survivors, but were only able to recover the bodies of the dead and retrieve the bus as part of their investigation of the tragedy.

The cause of the crash was believed to be negligence on the driver's part in his failure to prepare a route through a hazardous area, which was compounded by a lack of signs and gates on the dam's access roads.

The bus was an old model, did not possess efficient emergency exits or safety equipment, and had poor brakes, which may have contributed to the disaster.