05 Feb 2020

A Botswana Railways (BR) train 0501 passenger says passengers were neglected for more than one hour after last year’s accident which claimed two lives.

Ms Keitumetse Radinoga, who was aboard the ill-fated train on December 10 last year, said  passengers were left panicking and confused inside the train for a long time without any communication from BR staff. 

“I heard a loud bang and our carriage started shaking. I prayed while we waited inside the carriage, but no one came to help us. We could see a lot of water outside and we started panicking.

Some people got out but I remained inside the carriage with other people,” the 62-year-old who hails from Molapowabojang told the ongoing inquiry into the accident in Lobatse on Monday. 

She said she boarded the train in Lobatse heading for Francistown when the accident occurred around 2am on December 10 last year near Palla Road. 

Ms Radinoga said she was asleep and was only awakened by a loud bang and commotion inside the carriage.

“Some train staff passed in our carriage after roughly more than one hour and I asked what was happening. One of them told me that there were some people trapped in the train. Some people from the fire department then asked us to move out of the carriage to a safer spot in Palla Road,” she said.

Ms Radinoga said passengers took their luggage and trekked in the dark to a Palla Road level crossing where others had already gathered. 

“There was a lot of commotion and it was also drizzling. Some people were with young children. But there was still no communication from the train staff about what was going to happen next,” she said. 

When dawn broke, she said, some people started hitchhiking because they had grown frustrated at the negligence of the train staff. 

Ms Radinoga said some BR staff finally came after 5am and assured passengers that they would be assisted but some passengers were not convinced and continued hitchhiking.

“I also hitchhiked and found transport and proceeded to my destination,” she said. 

Ms Radinoga said she was not impressed with how BR staff managed the accident scene, as they failed to warn passengers about water around the train, which could have endangered their lives. 

“There was a lot of water and conditions were not safe for the train to operate. The staff should communicate to passengers when accidents happen,” she stressed.

She advised BR to make passenger safety a priority. 

Around 400 people were on board the north-bound train when it derailed in wet conditions. Two crew members lost their lives, while other people sustained minor injuries.

Government instituted a board of enquiry to investigate circumstances leading to the accident.

Public hearings commenced on January 13 and will continue for the next two weeks. ENDS