Meyerton, Gauteng | Tuesday
AT least 102 commuters were injured, one seriously, when a passenger train collided with a goods train in South Africa on Tuesday morning, a rail official said.
Metrorail representative Hendrik van Stryp said at least 102 passengers were injured in the accident that occurred around 7:15 am (0515 GMT) at Meyerton, about 50 kilometres south of Johannesburg in the central Gauteng province.
In the crash, 13 wagons of the goods train derailed while five passenger coaches left the track, Van Stryp told the South African news agency Sapa.
The goods train, carrying tonnes of coal, and the passenger train were on their way to destinations in the south of the province.
“One of the trains derailed,” Meyerton emergency services representative Anton Nieuwenhuizen said.
The injured — a far greater number than initial estimates of 13 — were taken to nearby hospitals, and stranded passengers were transported by bus to a nearby rail station to resume their trips to work.
The one seriously injured commuter was airlifted to hospital.
South Africa’s Metrorail representative Lilian Mofokeng said an investigation had opened into the cause of the accident. – AFP