South Africa

COMMUTERS STRANDED

Trains set alight at Cape Town Station, services suspended

A burnt-out carriage at Cape Town station on 28 November, 2019. Photo: TESSA KNIGHT/Daily Maverick

A number of motor coaches and passenger coaches were destroyed in a fire at the Cape Town Railway Station in the early hours of Thursday morning.

According to Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson of Cape Town Fire and Rescue, the City’s Fire and Rescue Service responded to the fires at 02:20 on Thursday.

“The first arriving crews from Roeland Street Fire [Service] confirmed train carriages alight on platforms 9 and 10. Upon further investigation, it was found [there were] fires on platforms 12, 13 and 15 as well and more resources were requested to contain the blaze,” Carelse said.

A number of motor coaches and passenger coaches were destroyed and the fire was extinguished at 04:53.No injuries were reported and the scene was handed over to the Passenger Rail Association of South Africa (Prasa).

The fires have severely affected train services in Cape Town on Thursday morning and left many commuters stranded.

Prasa’s Western Cape regional manager Richard Walker told eNCA that it appeared that the fires had been started deliberately. The cause is being investigated. – News24Wire DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

A South African Hero: You

There’s a 99.8% chance that this isn’t for you. Only 0.2% of our readers have responded to this call for action.

Those 0.2% of our readers are our hidden heroes, who are fuelling our work and impacting the lives of every South African in doing so. They’re the people who contribute to keep Daily Maverick free for all, including you.

The equation is quite simple: the more members we have, the more reporting and investigations we can do, and the greater the impact on the country.

Be part of that 0.2%. Be a Maverick. Be a Maverick Insider.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options