Pretoria - A total of 17 people were injured in a stampede at Pretoria's main Bosman train station on Thursday.
Tshwane emergency services spokesperson Johan Pieterse said 10 seriously injured commuters were taken to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
Seven others were taken to the Tshwane District Hospital with slight injuries.
Commuter Tshepo Mashele, of Mamelodi East, blamed the stampede on the overloading of trains, which he said was a daily occurrence.
"We are exposed to pushing and shoving every day. Unfortunately many people got injured today [Thursday]," he said.
"We don't understand why we are treated like inferior human beings... despite the recent fares hike," he said.
No comment from Metrorail
Metrorail introduced a 27% train fare hike, on average, on April 1.
Mashele said Thursday's chaos was sparked by poor communication methods and the unreliability of trains.
"People had to push and shove, at the same time having to guess where the train is going. The staff here [at Bosman station] do not communicate with commuters," he said.
Another commuter, Jeff Khupane of Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, warned that if the train service was not urgently improved, more horrific accidents would occur.
"More people have no option but to use these unreliable trains, due to the prohibitive fuel price," he said.
Metrorail staff at the Bosman station declined to speak to the media.
They said their marketing department, which would take media inquiries, was on an internal course somewhere. Another Metrorail spokesperson reached by phone declined to comment.
- SAPA/News24
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