IN PICS: Police to probe Prasa, Transnet train crash
Metrorail services along the Randfontein to Johannesburg lines will be affected as a result of the accident, and commuters are urged to make alternative arrangements.
The scene where a Premier Classe passenger train collided with a stationary goods train between Roodepoort and Horizon Station in Johannesburg, 13 February 2020. Picture: Michel Bega
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has called for a full investigation into Wednesday’s train collision in Roodepoort.
A Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) Premier Classe passenger train collided with a stationary Transnet goods train between Roodepoort and Horizon Station on Wednesday evening.
Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani confirmed the crash.
The scene of the train crash. Images: Twitter/@_ArriveAlive
Picture: Michel Bega
Picture: Michel Bega
One person died in the crash, and five others sustained injuries and were transported to hospital.
31 people were on board the passenger train when the crash occurred, 14 of whom were staff members.
Image: Twitter/@_ArriveAlive
The passenger train departed Cape Town on Tuesday.
Main Line Passenger Services teams were at the scene to establish the cause of the accident.
More emergency services personnel arriving on the scene of the train crash in Roodepoort. @POWER987News @Powerfm987 pic.twitter.com/sumNTDIpPc
— Letona (@MrManganye) February 12, 2020
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring told News24 the deceased male sustained numerous injuries, and when he was found inside a carriage of the passenger train, he had already died.
Meiring also said there was an elderly woman trapped in the same carriage, and that rescue personnel worked for more than two hours to free her, after which she was airlifted to a hospital for further treatment.
Picture: Michel Bega
Picture: Michel Bega
Picture: Michel Bega
Metrorail services along the Randfontein to Johannesburg lines will be affected, and commuters are urged to make alternative arrangements.
Mbalula has welcomed a police probe into the crash, saying he had full confidence that the administrator and authorities would find the cause and “devise strategies to minimise similar occurrences in future”.
(Compiled by Nica Schreuder. Additional reporting by News24 Wire)
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