Thato Mahlangu
A man was killed while boarding a moving train at the Eerste Fabrieke railway station in Mamelodi on Wednesday.
He and other commuters were apparently desperate to board the train as it was the first one to arrive after a long wait.
The man is believed to have slipped and was crushed to death.
Eyewitnesses claimed paramedics turned back without attending to the man as they said there was nothing they could do for him.
Commuter Abongile Ximtha said she saw everything.
“When we saw them [paramedics] coming we thought they would help him but they told us he was already dead.”
Ximtha said the man’s limbs were still moving, but the paramedics said he would die as his injuries were too severe.
But Bokang Maseru, another witness, said the man could not have survived even if the paramedics had attended to him.
“There was no way he could have survived.”
Some commuters said if Metrorail had cared about them, more trains would be made available in Mamelodi as this was the mode of daily transport for thousands of people.
“Currently, there are about two or three trains running to and from Pretoria and Mabopane,” said a discontented commuter, Irvin Shirinda.
“Many deaths on the railway are caused by trains not being available to commuters and that causes high volumes of traffic,” said Shirinda.
Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng, said she was not aware of the accident and would respond to enquiries after verifying the information.
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