Police warn train crash death toll might still rise
MORE than 24 hours after a deadly Shosholoza Meyl train accident‚ emergency services were combing the scene near Kroonstad in the Free State to retrieve passengers’ remains from the mangled wreckage.
Officials were still battling yesterday to determine exactly how many people had died in the accident.
The death toll released on Thursday was as high as 20.
But Free State police spokesman Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said that statistic could still change, as recovery work was still being carried out.
“Forensic work is being done on the remains taken out of the train to determine their origin‚” he said.
“Only once that work is done can we confirm a body count.”
Workers from Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) arrived early yesterday morning to begin the arduous task of clearing the scene.
Police forensic investigators have the equally difficult task of sifting through the chaos to document not only the number of deaths‚ but also any evidence that could point to the cause of the collision.
Officials told the media on Thursday that the driver of a truck had tried to cross the railway too late as the train approached‚ but police are adamant that no blame will be apportioned until the scene is properly assessed and handed over to prosecutors for a decision.
Meanwhile‚ away from the sombre scene of forensic pathologists‚ workers were cutting sections of the railway line so that heavy machinery could gain access to the eight overturned and smashed carriages.
Investigators from the Railway Safety Regulator were also back on the scene yesterday.
The accident occurred when a Shosholoza Meyl train en route from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg crashed into a truck that had failed to stop at a level crossing.
Nine carriages were derailed and over 200 passengers were injured, with at least 18 people killed.
The regulator is responsible for investigating railway accidents and making recommendations to prevent or reduce the risk of recurrence.
Regulator spokeswoman Madelein Williams said its investigators were dispatched to the scene on Thursday morning immediately after receiving news of the accident.
Williams said investigators were still undertaking a preliminary invest and gathering all the facts about the accident.
Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi‚ who visited the scene on Thursday afternoon‚ said the truck driver was at fault.
“He was taking chances‚” Maswanganyi said.
Mthuthuzeli Swartz‚ acting CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa‚ said on Thursday that buses were arranged for the remaining passengers to be transported to their destination on Thursday afternoon.
He said clean-up operations would resume by yesterday.