The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has confirmed that clean-up operations at the site of last week’s horror train crash near Kroonstad in the Free State have been completed and services are expected to resume today.

The IOL on Monday reported that lines from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth had been reopened on Sunday morning following the deadly level-crossing accident that claimed 19 lives.

Prasa spokesperson Dr Sipho Sithole told IOL: “The rest of the coaches and the wreckage have been cleared, with only one locomotive and four coaches still on the ground.”

The Shosholoza Meyl train was en route to Johannesburg from Port Elizabeth when it collided with a truck at the Geneva level crossing in the Free State.

The truck, which was hauling two trailers, was dragged on the railway line for about 139 meters resulting in the derailment of six train coaches, the death of 19 people and the injury of hundreds more.

High level meeting

EWN on Sunday reported that Prasa said it was planning to hold a high-level meeting with other government entities on Monday, 8 January, to discuss how families of those affected by the crash will be assisted.

Sithole told EWN: “The meeting will involve all the entities, which is the Department of Transport, Prasa, Road Traffic Management Service and Rail Safety Regulator and then after that, we’ll be able to engage the families.”

The Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) has since dispatched Safety Inspectors to the scene to conduct a preliminary investigation, the results of which are expected to be released to the public today.