200 injured in commuter train crash outside Johannesburg

JOHANNESBURG – A train collision on the outskirts of South Africa’s commercial hub, Johannesburg, left more than 200 people injured, emergency responders said Tuesday morning. It was the second train crash in the area within a week.

At least 226 people were taken to hospitals “but most with minor injuries,” said Nana Radebe, spokeswoman for the city’s emergency management service.

No one died in the crash at the Geldenhuis commuter train station, emergency response group ER24 said in a statement.

One Metrorail train rear-ended another train that had failed as a result of a technical problem, South Africa’s railway safety regulator said in a statement. The regulator blamed human error for sending the second train to the same platform, as the usual signalling system on that section of track had cable problems.

Of those hurt, 159 people had minor injuries and 67 had moderate ones, the statement said.

A passenger train crash last week south of Johannesburg killed at least 18 people and injured about 260. Authorities said the train carrying people home after the holidays slammed into a truck that was trying to cross the tracks in time.

The transport minister has ordered an inquiry into why five of the train coaches caught fire after the derailment, the railway safety regulator said Tuesday.