Three British tourists have been killed in South Africa after their car was thrown off a 75ft bridge. Former clergyman Peter Harris, 67, who set up the international conservation charity A Rocha, was the only one of the group to survive but remains in a critical condition in hospital.

His wife, Miranda, 66, and friends of 25 years, Chris and Susanna Naylor, died in the accident.

The Harris’ and Mr Naylor, 58, all worked for A Rocha, while mother-of-three Mrs Naylor, 54, was a senior teacher at the £17,000-a-year Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford.

The two couples were on their way to the airport to fly back to England after enjoying a 10-day “dream holiday” in South Africa when their Toyota wagon was caught in a collision with another vehicle as they crossed the Swartkops Bridge, resulting in them being flipped over the crash barrier and plunged into the river below.

The three victims were declared dead at the scene. A postmortem showed that they died from either the impact with the barrier or on landing.