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| South Africa train crash: 'Bodies burnt beyond recognition' | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A passenger train has caught fire in South Africa after colliding with a truck, killing at least 14 people and injuring 268, rescue workers say. | |
| Some of the bodies are "burnt beyond recognition", Free State Health Department Spokesman Mondli Mvambi has told South African news site Times Live. | |
| Video footage showed a fire blazing through at least one carriage, near a crushed car and an overturned truck. | Video footage showed a fire blazing through at least one carriage, near 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. | About 850 passengers had been safely evacuated from the train, police were quoted as saying. |
| 'They didn't make it' | |
| The driver of the truck tried to flee, but was arrested by police, passenger Seipati Moletsane told the privately owned eCNA news site. | 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. | 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. | "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. | A tweeter posted a video of the fire. |
| The emergency services 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. | The emergency services 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. |
| Officials fear the number of dead could rise, reports the BBC's Lebo Diseko from Johannesburg. | Officials fear the number of dead could rise, reports the BBC's Lebo Diseko from Johannesburg. |
| Passenger Tiaan Esterhuizen told the BBC that he and his family managed to get off the train, and he then tried to help three women trapped in the mangled wreckage: | |
| "They were shouting to us: 'Listen, the baby, the baby!' We tried to look for the baby but we couldn't find it. | |
| "We broke down the windows to look [for] it. And then... that same truck that they were in... was full of flames. So, they didn't make it." | |
| The flames became intense, forcing him and others to retreat, he said. | The flames became intense, forcing him and others to retreat, he said. |
| "We used some fire extinguishers the police had‚ but it didn't work‚" Mr Esterhuizen was quoted in local media as saying. | |