A passenger train on Thursday smashed into a truck at a level crossing in South Africa, killing at least 18 people, injuring 254 and throwing several carriages off the rails.
Flames ripped through the twisted wreckage and choking black smoke rose into the air as desperate passengers clambered out of the train traveling from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg to escape the inferno.
Tiaan Esterhuizen, who was traveling on the train as he returned from holiday, attempted to rescue three women who were trapped in a burning passenger wagon.
“I saw around 12 cars on their side and one was already burning. We heard some women screaming when we came closer, so a few of us climbed over the cars,” he told the Times LIVE news Web site. “Two of the women were sort of on top of each other. Another was further back. Her legs were trapped. One of the women was shouting that there was a baby inside also. We searched, but could not find the child... I am quite sure those women burned to death.”
Rescuers rushed to the scene to search for survivors and treat the injured.
Officials warned the toll could rise as operations continued to clear the crash site.
“Police are investigating. The truck driver was taking chances... that cost lots of lives,” South African Minister of Transport Joe Maswanganyi told reporters at the scene. “The truck driver has been taken to hospital where we are going to do a blood test to verify if he was sober or not, or what was the problem.”
It said the truck had made an “untimely” crossing of the tracks when it was hit by a train at high speed, between the towns of Hennenman and Kroonstad, 200km southwest of Johannesburg.
One of the derailed carriages was the power generator behind the locomotive car. It caught fire and the flames spread rapidly.
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa rail division chief executive Mthuthuzeli Swartz confirmed that 18 people had been killed and 254 injured, adding that it would be “tragic and unexpected” for the death toll to increase further.
“The pathologists who are here have given us the assurance they are convinced that the number of dead, 18, will be the final number,” he said, adding that only 88 crash survivors remained in hospital.
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