South African train collision kills three, injures 600
Johannesburg, Jan 8: Two passenger trains collided head on during the morning rush hour in South Africa's capital city Pretoria Tuesday, killing three people and injuring hundreds, emergency services said.
Two critically injured people were airlifted from the scene of the crash in Mountain View, northern Pretoria, spokesman Charles Mabaso told AFP.
Another 641 people were hurt, with 11 sustaining critical injuries and 62 suffering "moderate" injuries.
"The current fatalities stand at three, but it still might rise," said Mabaso.
When paramedics arrived on the scene, they found carriages from both trains tilting half off the track.
"Numerous passengers were found either in the trains or found walking around on the scene," Russel Meiring, a spokesman for the ER24 emergency services, said in a statement
Rail accidents are common in South Africa. In 2016-17, 495 people were killed on the country's railways, according to the Railway Safety Regulator.
Transport Minister Blade Nzimande said the accident was caused by signals failure which he blamed on cable theft.
"I'm truly saddened about this continuing deaths of commuters at Metrorail," said the minister after visiting the scene of the crash.
"I'm personally outraged ...we can't every time be having the repeat of the same problem. As government, we have to bring this to end. We need more stringent measures to be able to deal with this situation. We need to find a way of dealing with rail safety," he said, demanding explanation from the country's rail agency.
The theft of railway cables is a continuing problem in the country. They are often melted into ingots before being smuggled to Asia.
Khanyisile Kweyama, the chairwoman of the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), admitted that the security of rail signalling cables "hasn't been" great.
A year ago, in one of the country's worst rail disasters, a passenger train smashed into a lorry at a level crossing near Kroonstad in the central Free State province, killing 19 people and wounding 254.
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Baramati plane crash: CID questions VSR Ventures owner
Pune (PTI): The Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department on Thursday questioned V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, which operated the aircraft involved in the Baramati crash that killed deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, a CID officer said.
“The statement of V K Singh is being recorded,” said the CID officer, without disclosing more details about the questioning, which was still underway.
A Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
After the plane crash, an accidental death report was registered at the Baramati Taluka police station, and the case was later transferred to the Pune CID. Earlier, the state agency had said that its focus was to ascertain if sabotage or criminal negligence led to the Baramati tragedy.
Days before V K Singh's questioning, the CID had sent a set of questions to VSR Ventures in connection with its investigation into the plane crash, according to a source.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar had alleged on Wednesday that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures, and claimed that a preliminary probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the air tragedy, the AAIB said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged fading marks on the runway and the presence of loose gravel on the runway surface.
A few days ago, Ajit Pawar’s son Jay Pawar had shared a purported video on social media alleging that V K Singh's son Rohit Singh was seen dozing off in the chief pilot’s seat during a flight, and demanded his immediate arrest.
He had also demanded that all aircraft of VSR Ventures be grounded till the inquiry into his father’s plane crash is completed.
