Officials to meet before identifying Shosholoza crash victims
SUMMARY: After the horrific crash, officials say some of the victims still need to be identified.
State pathologists are expected to start the process of identifying the victims of the crash involving a Shosholoza Meyl train in the Free State, but the various stakeholders are set to hold a meeting first.
This meeting includes officials from, among others, the police, health and transport departments as well as the Passanger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
"We need to meet with the pathologists for us to be able to convey the right message to the families," says PRASA's spokesperson Dr. Sipho Sithole.
ALSO READ: Clean-up still underway after Shosholoza crash
19 people were killed and more that 160 injured when the train collided with a truck and a car near Kroonstad last week.
A number of train coaches caught alight after sections of the train derailed.
Clean-up operations concluded on Saturday with one of the lines opening on Sunday.
ALSO READ: 14 killed, scores hurt as Shosholoza train derails
Sihtole adds PRASA will also engage the families in terms of providing support to those who lost loved ones in the incident.
Police have meanwhile opened a case of possible culpable homicide amid claims that the truck driver failed to stop at the railway crossing.