SA luxury train derails, three killed

A South African luxury train carrying foreign passengers derailed outside the capital Pretoria today, killing three and leaving nine critically injured, the railway authority said.

A South African luxury train carrying foreign passengers derailed outside the capital Pretoria on Wednesday, killing three and leaving nine critically injured, the railway authority said.

HT Image

"The Railway Safety Regulator learnt with alarm of the Rovos Rail accident early Wednesday afternoon in Pretoria where three people were fatally injured, while nine were critically injured," the authority said in a statement.

Luxury carrier Rovos Rail confirmed the accident but said it had no details on the nationalities of the passengers involved. A spokesman said most customers are from Europe and the United States.

"We had a derailment of one of our trains. It was an inbound train from Cape Town to Pretoria," said David Patrick, marketing manager for private luxury rail company Rovos Rail.

"The emergency services are attending to the injured and some of the injured have been taken to hospital," he said.