The death toll of Monday’s horror collision on the N1 in Limpopo has risen to 22.

The Limpopo Department of Transport reports that SAPS divers retrieved a body out of the Phandanama river this morning.

“Police divers returned to the culpable homicide scene this morning after a family came forward reporting that they could not locate a loved one who was on the Mabirimisa bus. This sadly brings the number of people who have died to 22,” provincial spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene says.

The fatalities follow after a bus and a cash-in-transit van collided, resulting in scores of other injured passengers being taken to various hospitals in the Vhembe District.

Chuene says the cash-in-transit truck lost control and collided head-on with an oncoming bus on the N1 northbound after the Hendrik Verwoerd tunnel towards Musina.

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, and the Vhembe District Municipality Mayor, Dowelani Nenguda, yesterday joined the deceased’s families to identify their remains.

“Various entities of the state have also been activated to provide assistance and support to the families of the deceased and the injured following the crash, including professional counselling services and possible material support,” Chuene concludes.