02 June, 2017
A train driver was killed and 50 others injured when a train rear-ended another in Elandsfontein‚ east of Johannesburg‚ on Thursday morning‚ emergency medical service company ER 24 reported.
ER24 paramedics along with several other services arrived on the scene and found several carriages of the trains leaning to their side, ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said. Five of injuries are serious.
Train T0601 was from Pretoria enroute to Johannesburg and T1817 was an empty train enroute to Leralla from the yard.
Gauteng Metrorail said that at the time of the accident, the trains were being manually authorised between Olifantsfontein and Elandsfontein due to theft of signalling power cables that occurred in the early hours of Thursday.
"Buses are also running between Elandsfontein and Isando to complement the shuttle service".
This single service is set to run until technical teams from Perway have completed replacing the damaged sleepers on the line affected by the accident. It said in a statement that injured travelers were taken to hospitals.
He said upon closer inspection‚ paramedics discovered that one of the drivers of the trains had sustained fatal injuries and showed no signs of life.
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Matampi said Metrorail Gauteng sincerely regretted the loss of life and conveyed honest condolences to the family of the deceased.
Matampi said Metrorail has appointed a technical team to investigate the cause of the collision.
