Forty-seven members of a family in South Africa were killed and 33 more seriously injured when a truck they were travelling in overturned, police and transport officials said Monday.

"One surviving relative counted 47 people who were killed instantly," a police spokesman in northeastern Mpumalanga province told AFP.

Captain Malculm Mokomene said the driver lost control of the truck loaded with some 120 people on their way to annual family gathering when it overturned in Roossenekal, about 300 kilometres (190 miles) from Johannesburg on Sunday night.

"This is the worst accident in the past 10 years, with so many people killed at once," said Mike Mabasa, spokesman for the transport minister.