A board of inquiry would be instituted to probe Thursday night’s train crash at the Van Riebeek Park station near Kempton Park which resulted in over 300 injuries, Metrorail said.
In a statement late on Thursday, the state-owned railway company confirmed: “Metrorail train 0659 travelling from Johannesburg Park Station to Pretoria collided from the rear end with train 0663 which was faulty and stationery at Van Riebeeckpark Station this [Thursday] afternoon at 17h50.”
Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said that 320 commuters were left injured but that no fatalities had been reported.
Metrorail technical teams will be working around the clock to recover the site. The cost of the accident is still unknown at this stage
The injured commuters were taken for medical attention at various hospitals including Tembisa, Kalafong, Zamokuhle, Arwyp, Tambo Memorial, Linksfield, Bertha Gxowa and Milpark Hospitals.”
Mofokeng also thanked emergency services on site attending to the injured and confirmed that a board of inquiry would be instituted to determine the root cause of the accident.
City of Ekurhuleni Emergency Services spokesman William Ntladi confirmed that authorities were at the scene looking for more injured people.
“Paramedics, firefighters, police and rescuers are still inside the trains searching for those who might have been overlooked.”
Source: eNCA
