Three dead, 600 injured in horror train accident
A joyous Velli Jente had just stepped off his Pretoria-bound train when another ploughed into the back of it, trapping scores of his praying fellow congregants inside.
Moments before – as he does every day – Jente had been standing in carriage two of train 08 singing with his fellow Apostolic churchgoers, praising the Lord for the rest of the journey to be safe.
Although the Marabastadbound train had been delayed in its departure, the more than 100 congregants were happy.
It was the first time they were all together for the year, having returned from holiday.
None of them had any idea that a suspected signal fault would an hour later see another Pretoria-bound train careen into the back of their carriage and train which had been delayed at Mountain View station outside the city.
The accident left three people dead and about 600 injured, with several of the 11 who were critically injured having to be airlifted to hospital.
Jente said he had just stepped off the train, when the crash occurred.
"I was happy. I was singing,” he said. But his joy quickly turned to terror when he heard a loud bang and then people screaming for help.
"It was chaos. People were on the railway line. My friends were screaming and crying for help. It was so scary. I didn’t know what had happened."
Fellow congregant Sylvia Ngobeni, 34, who escaped with minor injuries, said when people heard the approaching train hooting they tried to get off as quickly as they could.
“There was so much chaos. I remained seated in my usual place in carriage two as there was no way out of the door."
She said the service had been an extra special one because more congregants were returning to work from their holidays.
Tshwane Emergency Services spokesman Charles Mabaso said given the extent of the wreckage they had to use sniffer dogs and thermal imaging cameras to determine how many passengers were killed or trapped in the carriages.
"Visually we had sight of two of the deceased who were trapped in one carriage, but to ensure we were not missing anyone we sent in the dogs and used technical equipment to search the carriage and other carriages."
He said in total three people – two men and a woman – were killed. “The woman died short- ly after she arrived at Steve Biko Academic Hospital,” he said.
He added the operation had been highly technical and difficult in terms of the number of victims.
Ruan Heyns, managing director of the community emergency response team, said they responded after they received calls for additional medical support. "The scene was totally chaotic, with lots of scared people. We were able to help extract passengers from some of the derailed coaches."
Heyns, who himself helped rescue 10 people from the wreckage, said those they assisted were away from the point of impact.
Dr Neville Vlok, chief medical officer of Halo Aviation, whose helicopters airlifted two of the critically injured patients, said one of those airlifted had been a woman who was trapped in the wreckage for some time.
"She was airlifted to Steve Biko Academic Hospital. The second patient we airlifted was a man who was taken to Johannesburg's Charlotte Maxeke Hospital with severe injuries to his legs."
Metrorail spokesman Lillian Mofokeng confirmed the two trains were both travelling on the same line towards Pretoria from Mabopane. She said a board of inquiry would be held to determine the cause of the accident.
Last year Prasa narrowly avoided having its safety permit suspended by the Rail Safety Regulator [RSR] following two deadly train accidents.
In August they said it was "of the opinion that Prasa cannot demonstrate to the RSR that it has the ability, commitment and resources to properly assess and effectively control the risks to assets and safety of its customers, staff, contractors, visitors and others who may be affected by its railway operations".
RSR spokesman Madelein Williams said it was too early to comment on the cause of the latest crash and whether it was related to safety issues.
Tshwane mayor Solly Mismanga, speaking from the accident scene, described the section of railway line where the accident occurred as notorious. "It has always been a problem. We are asking Prasa to make sure they deal with the matter of theft and that they get outdated signals in order,” he said.
The scene was totally chaotic, with lots of scared people Ruan Heyns
Managing director of community emergency response team