Four injured as yet another train crashes

Four people have been injured in yet another train crash.

This time‚ two goods trains collided while inside a depot in Ermelo‚ Mpumalanga‚ on Tuesday morning.

ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said that four passengers had sustained minor to moderate injuries.

“The patients were treated for their injuries and were thereafter transported to Mediclinic Ermelo for further treatment‚” Meiring said.

Meiring said it was not understood what led to the collision and that local authorities were on the scene for further investigations.

Railway Safety Regulator general manager Madelein Williams confirmed the accident and said the RSR was waiting for investigators to conclude their investigation.

Tuesday’s crash comes after 19 people died and over 250 people were injured when a train‚ en route from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg‚ collided with truck‚ causing several carriages to derail and catch alight‚ on January 4.

It also follows a train collision in Germiston on January 9 which left 30 people injured and prompted the RSR to issue the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) with a prohibition directive‚ stopping it from manually authorising trains‚ an action which was said to have caused the collision.

The RSR has since lifted the directive‚ effective from January 12‚ following a meeting between the senior management of RSR and Prasa.

According to the RSR‚ Prasa submitted a corrective action plan detailing how they intend to address issues pertaining to manual authorisations of trains during degraded train operations‚ which they have accepted.

“The RSR has considered the corrective action plan and is satisfied that Prasa has adequately demonstrated their commitment to address safety concerns raised by the Regulator.”

- TimesLIVE