South Africa train collision injures around 200 people

Around 200 people were injured on Tuesday when two passenger trains collided in a suburb of South Africa’s main city Johannesburg, emergency services network ER24 said.

“The exact details surrounding this incident are not yet known but local authorities are on the scene and will be launching an investigation into the matter,” ER24 said in a statement.

No fatalities were reported in the accident, which took place days after more than a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured when a train struck a lorry, derailed and burst into flames in central South Africa.

South Africa has the continent’s largest railway network, but it has been plagued by mismanagement and under-investment that has seen train use dwindle despite it being the cheapest from of public transportation.

In a report, the government’s Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) said that, in the 2016/17 financial year, 495 people lost their lives on the country’s railways and 2,079 were injured. The death toll was up 5 percent from the previous year.

REUTERS