Some of the carriages damaged in a train crash a year ago outside Berlin have been cleared.
The May 20 accident, which claimed the lives of two people and was attributed to human error, was between a Transnet goods train transporting bags of cement and a Shosholoza Meyl passenger train in Blaney.
The Daily Dispatch reported last week that Transnet’s senior manager for external communications Mike Asefovitz had apologised on behalf of the parastatal for the wreckage not being removed a year on from the accident.
He said work on removing the wreck would begin yesterday.
When the Dispatch visited the site of the accident yesterday, some of the wreckage had been removed.
Mthura Swartz, the executive manager for mainline passenger services for Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), which owns Shosholoza Meyl, yesterday confirmed that their portion of the wreckage had been removed.
Asefovitz yesterday said he was unable to comment on the matter and would only be able to talk today.
Blaney resident Susan Cook, who lives close to the crash site and was among the first on the scene, said life had gone back to normal for them.
“We have just moved on and carried on with our lives. However, the wreckage has attracted all sorts of people to our community. We have seen people from outside our community coming here with the intention to loot,” she said.
In the aftermath of the accident two people were declared dead on the scene while five staff members and four passengers were critically injured.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) identified the deceased as employees Piet Baloyi, 58, of Soweto, and Yingwani Shivambu, 62, of Orange Farm.
The passenger train had been on its way to Johannesburg from East London.
The drivers of both trains jumped off before they collided. — siyab@dispatch.co.za