Families to identify train crash victims
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has confirmed families of the victims of the Shosholoza Meyl train crash will be identifying the bodies of their loved ones at a morgue in Kroonstad on Tuesday.
The crash happened last week in the Free State.
The train collided with a truck and a car and several of the train coaches caught alight.
It claimed the lives of 19 people and injured 160 people.
Prasa met with the families on Monday.
Spokesperson Dr. Sipho Sithole has told of emotional scenes as families try to grapple with the tragedy.
"It was sombre, sad and it was emotional, but luckily there was no accusations flying back and forth as everyone understand what happened. To see families breaking down in front of you saying they don't know how they will identify their family members. It's not the easiest thing to deal with as we are not trained for this as human beings, it's just tragic," says Sithole.
Sithole says four bodies are still unaccounted for and 15 other still need to be identified.
The closest families of the victims will have to provide a DNA sample for the identification process.