A man was found electrocuted to death on Wednesday morning on the roof of a train at Philippi Station heading to Cape Town.
The train was brought to a standstill when people walking along the railway shouted at the driver that something was burning on the roof.
The driver brought the train to a halt just outside the Philippi Station.
It is believed the unknown man was train-surfing and a resident who lives next to the station said they just saw the smoke and flames coming from the body.
Sipokaze Yozi, 43, said she was outside since 6 am doing her laundry.
“I saw smoke as the train came on and just stared. People were waving at the driver telling him the train is burning and he then decided to stop,” Yozi says.
“That’s when I saw a body was burning and we knew there was nothing that could be done for the person.”
City Safety boss, JP Smith, says: “I can confirm that we went to do ride-alongs with trains from Philippi Station and as we got there we discovered trains were not running due to a man who had been electrocuted on roof of train.”
Metrorail spokesperson, Riana Scott, said the incident affected service.
“It was the first train of the day and it is unclear what led to the incident. SAPS has closed the line for the duration of their on-site investigation,” Scott said.
Services will resume as normal today.