Trains collide in South Africa, injuring more than 100 people

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By BNO NEWS

A passenger train has collided with a cargo train in the South African city of Pretoria, injuring more than 100 people, local authorities say. The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The accident happened at about 7 p.m. local time on Monday when a passenger train and a cargo train collided head-on at the Rosslyn train station in Akasia, a suburb of Pretoria in the northern part of Gauteng Province.

Johan Pieterse, a spokesman for the regional emergency services, said at least 125 people had been injured in the crash, including 20 people who suffered serious injuries. There were no immediate reports of fatalities.

A spokesperson for ambulance service ER24 said about 150 people were on board the passenger train at the time of the accident.

“The injured passengers are being transported by provincial and private emergency services to nearby hospitals in the area,” said ER24 spokesperson Annine Dormehl. “Local authorities will be investigating this incident further.”

Serious accidents occur regularly on South Africa’s ageing rail network, in part because the vast majority of trains date back to the 1950s. The most serious train accident in recent years happened in May 2011 when two trains collided in Johannesburg, injuring 857 people, three of them seriously.

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