Firefighters rushed to the Cape Town Railway Station in the early hours of this morning to find several train carriages alight.
According to City of Cape Town spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, its Fire and Rescue Services responded to the fires at 2.20am. “The first arriving crews from Roeland Street Fire confirmed train carriages alight on platforms nine and ten. Upon further investigation, it was found fires on platforms twelve, thirteen and fifteen as well and more resources were requested to contain the blaze,” he said in a statement.
18 train carriages destroyed. The entire regional train service shut down after a major fire closes Cape Town station in the early hours. Commuter chaos – this should be treated as a major Terrorism investigation. The economy of WC is being attacked? #CapeTownTrains #CapeTown
— Simon Grindrod (@SimonPGrindrod) November 28, 2019
Several motor coaches, as well as passenger coaches, were destroyed in the blaze. All fires were doused at 4.53am. It is alleged that there was evidence of accelerants discovered upon further investigations, and a total of 18 carriages were lost to the fire.
? #ServiceUpdate
Service recovery underway following fire incident at Cape Town station. A limited train service operating on all lines (except Kapteinsklip/Chris Hani). Cape Town station platform changes apply (platforms 9-19 remain closed). Residual delays of 120+minss apply.— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) November 28, 2019
“No injuries were reported and the scene was handed over to the Passenger Rail Association of South Africa,” Carelse added.
According to a Tweet from the official Metrorail page, commuters can expect delays of up to 120 minutes. A limited train service will also be operating on all lines except the Kapteinsklip/Chris Hani line.
See the blaze here:
Pictures: Supplied/City of Cape Town
