Prasa to pay for crash victims' bills
2011-05-21 22:32
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Johannesburg - The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) would pay the hospital bills of 857 people who were injured in a train accident in Meadowlands, Soweto, Metrorail said on Saturday.
"Prasa is taking care of every bill in the hospital and related claims...operating in a similar manner to the Road Accident Fund," Metrorail's acting provincial manager Douglas Chauke told Sapa.
"Whether it's five or five million [rand], we cannot compensate the pain that Metrorail has caused on commuters," he said.
Two trains collided in Meadowlands on Thursday evening but no deaths were reported. The cause of the incident was not known but authorities were investigating.
"We have three people in a critical condition, 78 with serious injuries and 776 with minor injuries," Chauke said.
He said about 24 commuters were still in hospital.
"We have visited some of the patients in hospital and will visit again tomorrow until we have seen everyone."
Gauteng Health MEC Ntombi Mekgwe visited some of the injured on Saturday, stopping at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Helen Joseph and Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.
Chauke said some commuters were sent to Tshepo Thema hospital and Leratong hospital.
- SAPA
