World
Associated Press

Video: Aftermath of collision between train and truck in South Africa which killed 18 people

January 5, 2018

A passenger train carrying people home after the holidays slammed into a truck in rural South Africa overnight, killing at least 18 people and injuring about 260 others, authorities said.

Mthuthuzeli Swartz, acting chief executive of the state-owned passenger rail agency, said the truck driver allegedly tried to cross the tracks just ahead of the oncoming train, part of which burst into flames after the collision, trapping some passengers in carriages.

Those who were able to escape with their luggage hurriedly dragged bags from the smoking wreck to a nearby road.

Some of the dead were badly burned, Swartz said.

The train with 429 passengers aboard had been travelling from Port Elizabeth to the country's commercial hub, Johannesburg.

Video showed part of the Shosholoza Meyl train in flames after the collision that occurred between the communities of Hennenman and Kroonstad in Free State province.

The crash derailed half a dozen carriages, and power lines were damaged.

A large vehicle was upturned beside a train carriage that appeared to have partly crushed another, smaller vehicle.

The truck driver emerged unscathed and the train driver and his assistant suffered minor injuries, Swartz said.

An investigation continued.

SHARE ME

More Stories