Shosholoza train driver speaks out
Families give DNA samples to identify burnt remains
The death toll of the Kroonstad train crash could increase after more body parts were discovered yesterday.
An unspecified number of bones and part of a rib cage were discovered at the site where 19 people died when a Shosholoza Meyl train collided with a truck that attempted to cross a railway track.
They will be identified through DNA samples as more relatives arrived at the Kroonstad mortuary.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Thandi Mbambo said: “Due to the nature and conditions that the bodies were in, it is a bit difficult to identify them. But collecting DNA samples from the relatives will make it easy to determine who the person is.”
She said this process would take two to three weeks.
“So far we have about four bodies that cannot be identified as male or female while we have determined the genders of the other 15,” she said.
Mbambo said it was not clear whether the recently discovered body parts would increase the death toll or whether they were part of the remains at the mortuary.
A worker at the site where the crash occurred on Thursday said some body parts were found over the past two days and included a rib cage.
“It seems that not everything was collected when police searched for people. These parts must have been trapped somewhere where they couldn’t reach,” he said.
Families arrived at the mortuary as early as 8am yesterday to begin the process of collecting DNA samples and counselling.
They refused to speak to the media, saying they were given instructions by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) not to do so.
However, Prasa spokesman Sipho Sithole said families had instructed the agency to shield them from the media as they were in mourning.
“They asked us to engage with the media because they are going through a lot. This is a sensitive matter and they want to go through it without added pressure from the media,” he said