Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has conveyed her condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of two Transnet workers who died over the weekend.

The Transnet train driver and train assistant died on Saturday when a Transnet goods train derailed at the Delvillewood train station following a landslide in Hillcrest, west of Durban.

“To the families of the deceased, please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and our hearts go out to you in your time of sorrow,” Minister Peters said.

Reports from the scene indicate that the landslide was caused by the heavy rain, which resulted in the train being derailed.

When a rescue unit and firemen arrived on the scene, they found that the man and woman were dead. The two were still trapped in the train wreckage.

“The rescue officer and the firemen used the jaws of life to cut the people free from the twisted metal.

“The two bodies were removed from the train and then handed over to the police on the scene,” the Department of Transport said. – SAnews.gov.za