Many die after flames engulf seven carriages
AT least 20 people died and more than 250 were injured when a Shosholoza Meyl train travelling from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg derailed after colliding with a truck near Kroonstad in the Free State yesterday.
Seven of the 15 carriages caught fire, trapping a number of people inside the mangled wreckage as it was engulfed in flames.
It was one of the worst accidents of its kind in South Africa, according to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).
A Port Elizabeth man who was travelling to Johannesburg to visit his son and grandson, and did not want to be named, described the moment of impact.
The man said he was quite far from the front of the train when it crashed into the truck.
“I did not see it, but I felt the impact‚” he said.
“I felt the train driver trying to brake twice before we crashed and went off the rails.”
The man said the train had left Port Elizabeth at 3pm on Wednesday and the trip had gone well until the time of the accident at 9am.
He said his son had fetched him from the accident scene and they had arrived safely in Johannesburg in the afternoon.
Rescue workers and investigators were still combing the scene last night and more bodies were expected to be found in the wreckage.
It will take about 36 hours to clear the scene and restore operations to the railway.
Most of the bodies recovered were burnt beyond recognition.
The drivers of both the train and the truck sustained minor injuries.
Prasa rail acting chief executive Mthuthuzeli Swartz said the crash was caused by human error.
He alleged that the truck driver had tried to beat the train at a level crossing and had made it halfway across before the train slammed into the back half of the trailer, dragging it 400m.
While it is not yet clear how, a small car was also involved.
One passenger said the train driver had been blowing the horn long before the impact.
Video footage shows a scene shrouded in smoke, the wrecked train looming in the background, as passengers help each other move away from the heat of the flames.
According to Swartz, 713 passengers had been booked on the train.
However, Prasa said in a statement that 429 had been on board.
A total of 254 people were injured. Four are in a critical condition and 23 in a serious condition. Others were treated for minor injuries.
Tiaan Esterhuizen, who was returning to Gauteng from his holiday with eight family members, was having breakfast in the restaurant
car when he felt a massive jerk and heard screams. “I rushed back to my wife, who was quite far back on the train,” he said.
“She was with our small baby but, fortunately, only the luggage had fallen off the racks.”
Esterhuizen then gathered his family and disembarked.
“I saw around 12 cars on their side and one was already burning,” he said.
“We heard some women screaming when we got closer, so a few of us climbed over the cars to investigate.”
He saw three women trapped by the mangled wreckage, unable to move.
“Two of the women were sort of on top of each other. Another was further back – her legs were trapped.”
One of the women was shouting that there was also a baby inside.
“We searched but could not find the child,” Esterhuizen said.
By that time the flames had become so fierce they were forced to retreat.
“We used some fire extinguishers the police had, but it didn’t work.
“It was a terrible, terrible experience.” – Additional reporting by Odette Parfitt