Free State police recovered the bodies of eight people in a stream in Heilbron following an accident on Saturday.
Spokesperson Captain Loraine Earle says a bakkie carrying passengers was travelling along a dirt road between two farms when the driver attempted to cross a low-water bridge.
She says the vehicle was swept away by strong currents leading to the loss of multiple lives.
Search and Rescue dogs were dispatched to the scene on Monday morning when the victims did not reach their destination.
Captain Earle says the victims include the 71-year-old bus driver and his 62-year-old wife, three grandchildren, as well as a husband and wife in their thirties with their two-year-old girl.
Police have opened an inquest docket and are investigating the incident's circumstances.
