Train blaze victim still unidentified

The body found among the ruins of a burnt out train carriage on Thursday has not yet been identified.

Cape Town - It has not yet been established whether a person whose body was found among the ruins of two burnt out and one damaged train carriage at Glencairn station on Thursday had been a passenger.

Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said this on Sunday in answer to Cape Times questions about the carriage blaze, which sparked a mountain fire that forced 100 nearby families to evacuate their houses.

“An inquest docket was opened by the SAPS and they will confirm details (of the death) once their investigation is complete,” she said.

She could not confirm, three days after the incident involving the ill-fated Simon’s Town-bound train, whether the body was that of a man or a woman, or what the cause of death had been.

She also could not say how many passengers had been on board the train when the carriages caught fire.

Metrorail had lost 29 carriages in the Western Cape through arson over the past 12 months, Scott said.

“Historically this cost could range between R1.5 million and R6.5m per coach, depending on the extent of the damage and whether it is a motor coach or a passenger carriage,” Scott said.

The costs were determined by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s insurers, who examined the affected carriages, she said.

Unable to say how soon a report clarifying all aspects of the carriage fires could be expected, Scott said it was usually as soon as possible after a board of inquiry had completed its investigation.

Police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said information about the person who had been killed was unknown at this stage and an inquest docket had been opened for investigation.

Cape Times