More than 200 injured in South Africa train crash
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Tags: Coach, Passenger Train, Railroad, Rails, Tracks, train, Train Crash South Africa, Transport
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More than 200 people have been injured in a peak hour train collision in the South African city of Johannesburg.
One train was reported to have ploughed into a stationary train near Booysens station as workers headed home from the city.
Badly injured people were carried to dozens of waiting ambulances as shocked passengers sat on the ground and received treatment for minor injuries.
“Just over 200 patients were treated in hospital and many have already been discharged by this morning,” said Russel Meiring, spokesman for the ER24 emergency medical service.
“Fortunately there are no fatalities of critically injured patients,” said Santi Steinmann, a spokeswoman for the emergency services.
Some passengers were given medical care inside the wrecked carriages before being carefully lifted down a steep embankment on stretchers.
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A commuter told local media that one train derailed and hit the other, although rail authorities at the scene said the cause of the crash was still be determined.
The accident happened at the height of the evening rush hour when the trains were packed with people heading from Johannesburg city centre to residential areas.
Buses were laid on to take uninjured passengers home, while train services were disrupted across the south of the city.
As investigators examined the scene the morning after the accident, a spokesman for the rail authorities said the cause of the crash was unknown and that an investigation was underway at the site.
The last major train crash in South Africa was in April when a guard was killed and 240 people injured in a similar accident in Johannesburg as two crowded commuter trains collided.
