At least three people have been confirmed dead and more than 200 injured on Tuesday when two trains collided in the South African capital Pretoria.
The crash, which occurred at 9:30 a.m. (07:30 GMT), left 82 passengers with serious injuries after a packed train careered into a stationary train at Mountain View station.
“We have got three confirmed fatalities, and we have got different emergency services on site,” Charles Mabaso added.
South Africa is one of few African countries that has a very functional rail system. The incidence of train accidents have been recorded once a while over the years.
In 2016, a similar train collision end one person’s life while injuring hundreds at a spot between Tembisa and Kaalfontein in the Guateng region on a route known as the East Rand.
2018 alone saw two different clashes where the second accident in October had about 320 people injured when a packed train travelling from South Africa’s business hub Johannesburg to the capital Pretoria crashed into the back of a stationary train.
The first clash in January increased the death toll to at least 14 when a train crashed in South Africa’s Free State province.
