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South Africa train crash: Four dead in truck collision | South Africa train crash: Four dead in truck collision |
(35 minutes later) | |
A passenger train has caught fire in South Africa after colliding with a truck, killing four people and injuring 40, rescue workers have said. | A passenger train has caught fire in South Africa after colliding with a truck, killing four people and injuring 40, rescue workers have said. |
Video footage showed a fire blazing through at least one carriage, by a crushed car and an overturned truck. | |
Evacuated passengers were seen standing on the roadside with luggage. | Evacuated passengers were seen standing on the roadside with luggage. |
The collision occurred near Kroonstad city in Free State province, after the truck failed to stop at a crossing, a passenger told local media. | The collision occurred near Kroonstad city in Free State province, after the truck failed to stop at a crossing, a passenger told local media. |
About 850 passengers had been safely evacuated from the train, police were quoted as saying. | |
The driver of the truck tried to flee, but was arrested by police, passenger Seipati Moletsane told the privately owned eCNA news site. | |
Passengers in the first two coaches were wounded, she added. | |
"I was so traumatised. I didn't know what to do. I was looking for a door just to jump out. Every door was locked... All of a sudden, we just saw smoke, smoke, smoke," Ms Moletsane said. | |
A tweeter posted a video of the fire. | |
Firemen rushed to the scene and battled the blaze on the train, which had been travelling from the coastal city of Port Elizabeth to the commercial capital, Johannesburg. | |
Private emergency services company Netcare 911 said that four people had died and 40 others were wounded in the collision. | |
"Those with serious injuries are being transported by Netcare 911 and other services to hospital," its spokesman Tebogo Magoro said. | |
The train was travelling from the coastal city of Port Elizabeth to the commercial capital, Johannesburg, when the crash occurred. | The train was travelling from the coastal city of Port Elizabeth to the commercial capital, Johannesburg, when the crash occurred. |
Another private emergency company, ER24 EMS, said that about 100 people had sustained minor or serious injuries. |