Rail crossing fixed after train accident

By Pauline Hurungudo

Transport and infrastructural Development ministry in conjunction with Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway (BBR) Private Limited have fixed a 50-metre stretch of the railway line that was uprooted after a collision between a freight train and a truck along the Masvingo Beitbridge highway.

The level crossing at the 280km peg along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway was closed yesterday to facilitate repairs. The freight train was on its way to South Africa when it crashed last week into the tractor-trailer truck that had stopped on the track. The train reportedly hit the haulage truck trailer.

The front carriages of the train were derailed and the rail was extensively damaged and was uprooted on a 50 metre-stretch. The first few carriages had been knocked off the rails. It was not immediately clear how many carriages were on the train.

The infrastructural Development ministry in conjunction with BBR informed the motoring public of the temporary closure of road at the railway level crossing from 07:00hrs to 16:00hrs yesterday.

“This has been necessitated by the need to repair damages caused by last week’s derailment at the crossing,” the notice said. DailyNews