100 hurt in S. Africa train crash

MEYERTON, South Africa -- More than 100 people have been injured in a train crash in South Africa.

A passenger train collided with a derailed freight train near Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Officials told The Associated Press news agency that 102 people were injured but that only one of them was seriously hurt.

Bintu Petsana, spokeswoman for Spoornet, the state-owned company that owns the freight train, said 13 of its carriages had left the tracks and several had flipped over.

The passenger train, traveling slowly behind the freight train, then crashed into the wreckage, causing its engine and five coaches to derail. The cause of the freight derailment wasn't known.

Petsana said that there would have been more serious injuries had the passenger train been traveling faster. The casualties were taken to hospitals in Sebokeng and Vereeniging.

One passenger with a broken hip was airlifted to a hospital. All 22 patients taken to Sebokeng hospital were reported in stable condition; five were admitted and the rest were treated and discharged.

The Vereeniging hospital said more than 50 passengers had been treated and discharged.

Industrial tractors were brought in to clear up the accident near the rail station at Meyerton, south of Johannesburg.