Dhaka, June 12 -- At least 49 people, including several schoolchildren, have been killed in the floods that have swept through South Africa's Eastern Cape province as torrential rain and snow have hit parts of the country.

"The numbers are just escalating hour after hour. The situation is so bad on the ground," provincial premier Oscar Mabuyane said.

Among the bodies recovered are those of four children, a driver and a conductor who were on a bus that was carried away in flood waters as it was crossing a bridge in the town of Mthatha on Tuesday morning, according to BBC report.

Mabuyane said rescue efforts were continuing to find four more children who had been in the vehicle that has since been found on a riverbank with no-one inside....