The child, who has not been named, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the transport ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

“It is alleged that the driver lost control, colliding with barriers on the bridge causing the bus to go over the bridge and hit the ground, where it caught fire,” a government statement said.

Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition and others were trapped by the debris or scattered over the crash scene, in the country’s northeast about 190 miles (300km) north of Johannesburg, the department said, with rescue efforts continuing into the night.

The bus plunged off the Mmamatlakala bridge linking two hillsides between Mokopane and Marken in Limpopo province, the state’s transport department said. The vehicle fell 50 meters (164ft) onto rocky ground below, it said.

The transport minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, who was already in the area as part of a road safety campaign, went to the scene of the crash and said the South African government would help repatriate the bodies and conduct a full inquiry into the cause of the crash.