Fed-up commuters vandalise trains, attack staff
An angry crowd of commuters vandalised Metrorail trains and attacked staff, while robbing security guards, in three separate incidents in Boksburg, on Monday, February 22.
The trains were apparently not running properly on Monday, and it’s understood that the commuters were angry because of the delays at the stations between Germiston and Springs, which include the Dunswart, Boksburg East, Boksburg, Oos Rand, Angelo and Delmore stations.
According to Boksburg SAPS spokesperson Lieut Kwenndzakwakhe Ngobese, someone came running into the police station to report a group of people who were running riot at the Boksburg Railway Station.
“According to the complainant, some of the rioters were, at that time, pelting the train with stones, while others were setting it alight,” he said.
“The apparently shaken driver had to jump out of the train to escape the mob.”
The police rushed to the scene and found one of the coaches on fire.
Firefighters were called and they managed to get the fire under control.
The angry mob fled in different directions when they noticed the approaching police officers.
The second accident occurred at about 5.30pm, at the Angelo Railway Station, where a group of frustrated commuters robbed security guards of their firearms, bulletproof vests, handcuffs, jackets and cellphones.
They also damaged part of the building at the station.
A few minutes prior to the Boksburg station incident, commuters reportedly stoned a car belonging to Prasa, while it was parked next to the railway line near the Dunswart station.
The driver of the vehicle told the police that he parked his company car on the corner of Barry and Christopher streets, before he attended to a stationary train, which was damaged by angry commuters at the Dunswart station earlier that day.
“While the complainant was busy working, a group of people arrived and started pelting his car with stones.
“To escape the mob, the worker quickly got into the damaged car and drove away,” said Ngobese.
The incidents are being investigated by the Boksburg police, and no arrests have been made so far.
It is understood that, due to the incidents, Prasa suspended services in Germiston and Springs, leaving thousands of passengers in Ekurhuleni in limbo.
The agency has not commented on the matter.-@FanieFLK
