Tragedy struck early Monday morning (13 October) when a young man was struck and killed by a train in Somerset West.
Authorities including police, security officers and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) officials responded to the scene along School Street, opposite a local high school.
According to police, the incident occurred shortly after the train departed Van der Stel Railway Station en route to Eerste River around 06:30. The driver signalled the alarm and immediately applied the brakes after seeing the naked man on the tracks.
“Despite the driver’s efforts, he could not stop the train in time,” a police spokesperson said.
Somerset West police have opened an inquest docket into the incident. The victim has only been identified as a 34-year-old man from Strand.
An enquiry was submitted to Prasa, but their response was still pending at the time of publication.
The fatal accident marks yet another tragic start to a working week, following two fatalities on Monday 6 October.
ALSO READ: Double early-morning tragedy rocks Helderberg
The first incident unfolded around 06:30 when a 46-year-old Malawian national was found hanging from an electric tower near the N2 highway, requiring City of Cape Town‘s Fire and Rescue Services crewmen to cut through barbed wire to recover the body after the rope snapped.
Later that morning, before 09:00, officers responded to a shooting at Melcksloot Village Shopping Centre in the Somerset Mall precinct, where they found a 27-year-old man fatally wounded in his parked vehicle. The scene drew shocked onlookers as authorities cordoned off the area.
Police opened inquests into both incidents and the investigations are ongoing.
- This is a developing story.
