President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent condolences to the victims of the train collision in Pretoria on Tuesday which left at least three dead and over 300 injured.
“I have learned with sadness of the train accident, with three fatalities at this point and hundreds more being at various hospitals, mostly with light injuries. Our thoughts are with those who lost their lives and with their families. To the injured I would like to wish you all a speedy recovery,” said Ramaphosa.
Earlier, acting Provincial Police Commissioner of Gauteng, Major General Max Masha, said they were going to open an inquest docket to investigate the cause of the collision at Mountain View station.
“If it’s found that there’s been negligence, a charge of culpable homicide might be opened,” he said.
The trains were carrying more than 800 passengers at the time of the accident.
Gauteng Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng confirmed that over 300 commuters were injured, with 82 suffering moderate injuries and 159 light injuries.
Both trains were from Mabopane station and heading towards Pretoria station.
“Unfortunately one was stationary on the platform when the other one hit it at the back,” said Mofokeng.
Fifty ambulances were at the scene and three helicopters assisted with getting critical patients to hospitals.
Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga said he has always raised concerns about the infrastructure of railway lines.
“I don’t want to speculate about what happened this morning because they are still investigating. But I think there’s a need now to immediately have a meeting with Prasa (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa). We cannot lose any more lives, there needs to be some kind of upgrade in terms of signalling that is in here,” he says.
ANA