The cause of the accident, which took place on Sunday afternoon, is not yet clear. The twenty victims all worked in the mine.
According to a department spokesperson, the accident happened about 25 kilometers from the mine in the town of Musina, on the border with Zimbabwe in the far north of the country. “The bus collided with a truck,” the spokesperson said.
The Venetia mine, deep in a large nature reserve on the border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, has been operated by the De Beers group for more than thirty years. The mine accounts for 40 percent of South Africa’s annual diamond production and employs more than 4,300 people, many of whom come from nearby communities.