Three British charity workers killed after crash forces car off bridge into river in South Africa

One member of Christian group survived along with driver

Their car went off the bridge after it collided with another vehicle on the N2 motorway in Bluewater Bay (Port Elizabeth Traffic Updates)

Three British charity workers have been killed and another injured after a crash in which their car went off a bridge and into a river in South Africa.

Miranda Harris, 66, and married couple Chris Naylor, 58, and Susanna Naylor, 54, died after their vehicle came off Swarkskop Bridge near Port Elizabeth on Monday.

Ms Harris’s husband, Peter, 67, survived the crash with injuries, along with the driver of the car.

Mr Harris is in a stable condition in a Port Elizabeth hospital.

It is thought they were travelling to the airport when their car went off the bridge after it collided with another vehicle on the N2 motorway in Bluewater Bay, on South Africa’s southern coast.

The two couples were in the country with Christian charity A Rocha, founded by Mr and Ms Harris in the early 1980s.

Mr Naylor, executive director of A Rocha International, co-founded A Rocha Lebanon in 1996 with his wife, having both worked as teachers in the Middle East.

In recent years, Ms Naylor was head of science at Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford.

Rev Dave Bookless, director of theology at A Rocha, said: “The death of Chris, Miranda and Susanna leaves a huge and irreplaceable hole in our lives and our organisation.

“Our prayers are for Peter’s full recovery, along with the driver of the vehicle they were travelling in, and also for the Harris and Naylor families, as well as the hundreds, if not thousands, who consider them as extended family.

“Now is a time for grief, and sharing our treasured memories of some godly people.”

The Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting the families of two British couples following a car accident in Port Elizabeth in which three people died and one was left seriously injured.

“Our staff are in contact with the South African authorities.”