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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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
