Ballito café owners Gregory and Rita Naidoo were lucky to escape without injury after their car was struck by a train near Shakaskraal yesterday afternoon.

At around 15:30, the Naidoos were hit while crossing the train tracks between the R102 and Ballito Farmers Market, which sent their car spinning and into a ditch next to the road.

Although shaken by the incident, the couple suffered no injuries.

“It was frightening,” said Gregory.

“We were driving slowly towards the market and visibility was low because of the weather. We did not hear anything and suddenly saw the train almost on top of us.”

They sped up to try and make it across the tracks but the front right side of the train clipped the back right side of their car.

The Naidoos own Bobar Café Ballito and a stall at the market and were on their way to pick up staff.

“We come here every weekend so are used to driving this road. We’re just glad that everyone is safe,” he said.

A pointsman mans the crossing while the Farmers Market is open, but business had closed for the day at 14:00.

There are also numerous warning signs in place.

The train was on its way to Empangeni and was not towing any cargo.

When the North Coast Courier arrived, it was still in place around 50m from the accident site and was waiting for support teams to clear it to move on.

It is heavily reinforced and did not show any major signs of damage aside from a few scratches.