Germiston | Tuesday
THE mysterious midnight fire that gutted 33 coaches from three trains at the Germiston railway station early Tuesday morning was finally put out three hours later, police said.
Captain Thobile Xakeka said that only rail officials were left behind at around 3.30am after fire extinguishers and police had left the scene.
Police said the cause of the fire had not yet been established but unconfirmed reports from security guards who were at the station said the fire started shortly after electricians had left after fixing one of the trains — thereby suggesting a fault might have caused it.
Metrorail representative Lilian Mofokeng ruled arson out as the cause. Mofokeng estimated the damage at R60-million.
She said commuters would not be inconvenienced as Metrorail had busses and taxis, while most trains would still be able to operate normally, except for a standby train for Katlehong township which would be much slower due to the incident.
In another unrelated incident, two Cessna aircraft worth R6-million was destroyed in a suspected arson attack in Melkbosstrand near Cape Town on Tuesday morning, Western Cape police said.
Superintendent Wicus Holtzhausen said the fire started at a parachute club around 3am.
”Details are still sketchy but we suspect that it was arson,” he said.
Holtzhausen could not immediately confirm reports that several parachutes had also been destroyed in the blaze. – Sapa