UK charity workers died on impact, postmortem reveals

The three UK charity workers who were killed earlier this week when the  bakkie they were in plunged into the Swartkops River died on impact.

The postmortem, which was done on Thursday morning, indicated that Britons Susanna Naylor, 54, her husband, Christopher, 58, and charity co-founder Miranda Harris, 66, died from blunt force trauma — either caused by the impact when the bakkie hit the bridge barrier or when the vehicle plunged into the water — and did not drown.

This was confirmed by an  official who is not authorised to speak to the  media. The official postmortem report will be handed to detectives for their investigation.

Harris’s husband, Peter, survived the crash but is unconscious and in a critical condition in St George’s Hospital.

Two of Peter’s children have since arrived in Port Elizabeth to be by his bedside.

On Wednesday, Thando Kalipa, 55, who was driving the group to Port Elizabeth, said he suspected a car driving behind the bakkie had bumped the trailer, loaded with the Britons’ luggage, attached to the bakkie,

Detectives are now probing the triple culpable homicide case, looking into all allegations as to the cause of the crash.

The four were in SA on a part holiday and work trip to look at future possibilities in SA for A Rocha International

The Harris couple were the co-founders of A Rocha — a Christian conservation charity that operated in more than 20 different countries — while Christopher Naylor was an executive director of the organisation and Susanna a volunteer.

Police spokesperson Colonel Sibongile Soci declined to release the postmortem results, referring queries to the department health.

The department of health referred questions back to police, saying they did not release results.