Train inferno kills 14 in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — At least 14 people were killed and 268 injured when a train carrying 429 people flipped over and burst into flames after smashing into a truck at a level crossing in South Africa on Thursday.
Video shows part of the Shosholoza Meyl train in flames after the collision that occurred between the communities of Hennenman and Kroonstad in Free State province.
The crash derailed half a dozen carriages, and power lines were damaged. A large vehicle was upside down beside a train carriage that appeared to have partly crushed another, smaller vehicle.
The truck driver emerged unscathed from the accident and the train driver and his assistant suffered minor injuries, said Mthuthuzeli Swartz, acting CEO of South Africa’s state-owned passenger rail agency.
Swartz told local media outlet eNCA that the truck towing two trailers was halfway across the track when it was hit by the train and dragged for 1,300 feet. Rescuers rushed to the scene to search for survivors and treat the injured. At least four people were critically injured, Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi said. Officials warned the toll could rise as operations continued to clear the crash site.
“Police are investigating. The truck driver was taking chances… that cost lots of lives,” Maswanganyi told reporters at the scene. “The truck driver has been taken to hospital where we are going to do a blood test to verify if he was sober or not, or what was the problem.”
The Shosholoza Meyl rail company, which operates longdistance trains in South Africa, said the train travelling from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg collided with the truck at about 9 a.m. (0700 GMT).
It said the truck had made an “untimely” crossing of the tracks when it was hit by a train at high speed, between the towns of Hennenman and Kroonstad, 200 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg.