Johannesburg: Train collision leaves hundreds injured
About 200 people injured after collision of two passenger trains in Johannesburg suburb, emergency services say.
About 200 people have been injured when two passenger trains collided in a suburb of South Africa’s main city Johannesburg, emergency services network ER24 said.
“The exact details surrounding this incident are not yet known but local authorities are on the scene and will be launching an investigation into the matter,” ER24 said in a statement on Tuesday.
No fatalities were reported in the accident.
Police have launched a manslaughter investigation following a similar train crash last Thursday that killed at least 18 people and injured 254 others in one of the country’s worst ever rail disasters.
The passenger train, travelling from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg, crashed into a truck at a level crossing near Kroonstad in central Free State province and caught fire.
South Africa has the continent’s largest railway network, but it has been plagued by mismanagement and underinvestment that has seen train use dwindle despite it being the cheapest form of public transportation.
In a report, the government’s Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) said that, in the 2016/17 financial year, 495 people lost their lives on the country’s railways and 2,079 were injured. The death toll was up 5 percent from the previous year.