One killed, 80 injured as trains collide in Denver
One woman was found trapped between the train and a wall
A train driver was killed and 80 passengers injured in a train accident at Denver Railway Station in Johannesburg South on Tuesday morning.
Santi Steinmann, Netcare 911 spokesman, said services were currently still busy with the extrication operation to free an entrapped occupant from the train wreckage.
As soon as this patient has been removed, the SAPS K9 unit will start a search operation to ensure all the occupants have been removed, assessed and treated.
Most of the injured patients have been treated at the scene and transported to various hospitals by Netcare 911, provincial services and other services.
Exact detail surrounding the cause of the crash is still unknown and will remain the subject of a police investigation. One train rear-ended another.
Russel Meiring of ER24 said paramedics found the train wrecks blocking the tracks completely. Bent metal and parts of the train had been spread across the scene.
On assessment, paramedics discovered the driver of one of the trains had sustained fatal injuries in the collision. Meiring said other patients suffered injuries ranging from minor to critical. One woman was found trapped between the train and a wall.
Rescue services and paramedics worked to free the patient from the wreckage before treatment could continue.
Once freed, paramedics provided the patient with advanced life support and thereafter transported her by the ER24 medical helicopter to a nearby hospital for urgent medical treatment.
The other patients that were found on scene were moved to a nearby platform where they were triaged and treated for their injuries.
Once the patients are treated for their injuries, they will be transported to nearby hospitals for urgent medical treatment.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) shared its sympathies with commuters who were injured in this morning’s train collision.
“This tragedy, allegedly caused by ailing signalling systems, would have been avoided if the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) – instead of fumbling, paid attention to the shocking conditions of rail infrastructure,” Dr Neil Campbell, MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport, said in a statement.
“In its recapitalisation plans, PRASA has provisioned to upgrade existing rail networks and the equipment required to operate them. Gauteng, already under severe constraint from e-tolls and rising fuel prices, cannot afford for its rail network to collapse. If it does, many poor and working class people will be left stranded and possibly retrenched,” Campbell said.
“The implementation of its recapitalisation plan must be PRASA’s top priority, before Gauteng’s economy and rail network suffer even more damage.”
