South Africa: Train crash, 300 injured

At least 300 people, including many schoolchildren, were injured after two passenger trains collided near the South African capital Pretoria.

Medical staff said 28 of them were seriously injured.

Accident scene - Photo: Mail & Guardian online

Local media reported that the accident occurred at around 8am local time (1pm Vietnam time) this morning, January 31, after a train from the suburbs to the capital crashed into a train that was stopped on the same track. Both trains are operated by Metrorail.

“Both trains were packed with passengers, including many students on their way to school,” said Johan Pieterse, an emergency official in Tshwane. “We counted about 50 students.”

Pieterse also said one of the two train drivers was in critical condition after being trapped in the wreckage of the train for two hours.

The cause is still unknown, but the BBC quoted the head of South Africa's railway industry as saying that the cables used for signaling were stolen by someone, affecting the signaling system, leading to the accident.

In 2011, a high-speed train crashed into a stationary train near the South African township of Soweto, injuring about 800 people.

According to Tuoi Tre - DT