Train crash in South Africa kills 1, injures more than 80

Train crash in South Africa kills 1, injures more than 80

2011-04-08 22:29:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) -- At least one person has been killed and more than 80 others have been injured after two passenger trains collided in the South African city of Pretoria on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Netcare 911 spokesman Jeffrey Wicks said the accident happened just before 4.30 p.m. local time on a rail bridge in the Rosslyn area of Pretoria, a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province. He said the cause of the accident was not immediately known.

"Netcare911 Paramedics arrived at the scene to find that two fully-laden passenger coaches collided and thereafter derailed. Two of the carriages overturned adjacent to the tracks," Wicks said, adding that most passengers were able to escape the wreckage themselves.

Wicks said a man, believed to be one of the train drivers, was killed in the accident. "His body is entrapped in the wreckage of the coach," the spokesman said. Another 81 people were injured, including 11 people who were said to be in a serious condition.

Because of the high number of casualties, Wicks said medics called for additional resources from outlying areas to assist in the transportation of the injured to various medical facilities in the region.

South African Police Force has launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Last month, a total of 58 people were injured when a passenger train partially derailed in Germiston, a city in the East Rand of Geuteng province. The city is best known for having the country's largest railway junction.

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