- A woman whose bus got stuck in a flooded riveroad in Gauteng on Friday morning WhatsApped your GPS location to emergency services.
- His quick thinking helped rescue teams find the bus and get all 65 passengers to safety.
- The woman said that everyone on the bus thought they were going to die.
A woman who contacted emergency services and sent them her GPS location via WhatsApp was able to help save 65 passengers on a bus stuck on a flooded road in Soweto on Friday morning.
Bonolo Nketu, 22, watched his life flash before his eyes when the bus he had boarded at around 05:30 to go to work got stuck on a flooded road in Orlando, Soweto.
The bus was headed for the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Nketu said that it was raining that morning as he was getting ready to go to work.
“All I remember hearing was the bus going into the water and [then] got stuck,” Nketu said.
She said the bus windows were fogged up and when she looked outside, she saw the water rising.
“We were afraid because the rain would not stop. We were afraid that the water would rise more… We were struggling to get out of the bus,” he said.
Sixty-five passengers were rescued from a bus stuck on a flooded road with high water levels after heavy rains hit Gauteng on Friday morning.
According to Nketu, some of the passengers who were already in a state of panic started making phone calls for help, but no one came to their aid.
“I went on the internet to search for the emergency rescue [team]and then I called and told them what happened, and they came to our rescue,” he said.
Nketu said:
The people on the bus got scared and started yelling at the driver, asking him why he was getting into the water… I don’t understand why he was making him. [us] in that situation.
Luckily for Nketu and the other passengers, not much water had entered the bus.
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While on the call with the rescue team, Nketu said that fear began to grip her when she thought she was going to die.
“I was so scared, to be honest. I thought I was going to die from the amount of rain it was pouring. It was like the rain wouldn’t stop. I was crying while on the call and the team was telling me to do it.” . calm down,” said Nketu.
She said she managed to message the rescue team on WhatsApp and dropped her GPS location.
Speaking to News24, Emer-G-Med emergency dispatcher Ryan Thomas said he was the one who received the call from a “desperate” Nketu.
She said that the situation had left her confused to the point that she did not know where she was.
Thomas said: “I asked her to leave me her GPS location so we could track her and when we were able to locate her the team went down to save them.”
Throughout the entire incident, Thomas stayed on the call with Nketu, calming her down and assuring her that she would be okay.
“She was crying, but after I asked her where she was, she managed to calm down. I think that’s when she knew help was on the way,” Thomas said.
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Multiple rescue units from the City of Johannesburg, SAPS, Emergency Medical Services and First Assist heavy duty commercial towing division were dispatched to the scene. Rescue services helped all passengers to safety.
According to Nketu, the rescue team carried them out in groups using floating boats.
“I’m glad they were able to save us, really, because it almost seemed like we weren’t going to make it.”
Transportation was arranged for those who wanted to go to work, but I just wanted to go home to sleep,” he said.
Nketu, who has now had time to digest her ordeal, remains grateful for the teams that rescued them.
