Scores of people were injured this morning in a horror train accident in Pretoria. Two women died in this accident and at least nine others were critically injured. At least 45 others sustained multiple injuries.
Shortly after 12:00 paramedics from numerous emergency services rushed to the incident on the corners of Bosman Street and Andries in the Pretoria CBD. Paramedics on the scene described it as "chaotic". Paramedics made their way to the train tracks where they found the carriages lying across the railway with people still trapped inside of it.
Some of the people had to be rescued with the jaws of life and other hydraulic equipment. Emergency personnel erected a triage station on the site to quickly determine the patient's injuries and sort them in order to transport them hospital as quickly as possible.
One of the critically injured patients sustained multiple injuries and was airlifted by the ER24 Discovery Medicopter to Eugene Marais hospital for further medical management. She sustained multiple injuries to her lower limbs as well as her upper body.
It is understood from railway officials on the scene that the train was being transferred from its locomotive to an electrical locomotive when it started to roll backwards. However, the exact cause will still be investigated by the railway authorities.
Police rescue dogs were called in to search the carriages to investigate if anyone else were still trapped under the carriages. It is understood that most of the commuters were from USA, NZ, Germany, South Africa and France. Commuters explained that they were travelling from Cape Town to Pretoria Station when the incident occurred.
No comments:
Post a Comment