| Blackheath train accident | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | 25 August 2010 07:03 |
| Location | Blackheath, Blue Downs, Western Cape 26 km (16 mi) ESE from Cape Town |
| Coordinates | 33°58′13″S 18°42′21″E / 33.9702°S 18.7059°E / -33.9702; 18.7059 |
| Country | South Africa |
| Line | Bellville–Stellenbosch |
| Operator | Metrorail |
| Incident type | Level crossing accident |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 9 |
| Injured | 5 |
The Blackheath train accident occurred at 7:03 a.m. on 25 August 2010 when a Metrorail commuter train crashed into a minibus taxi on the Buttskop Road level crossing in Blackheath, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.[1] The minibus was carrying fourteen children to school; nine died on the scene and five were hospitalised.[2] One of the injured children died two days later in the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital.[3] The minibus driver was also hospitalised;[2] there were no injuries aboard the train.[4]
An initial investigation by the Railway Safety Regulator determined that the lights and booms at the crossing were in full working order.[4] Witnesses stated that the minibus drove around a queue of stopped cars and past the closed half-booms blocking the crossing.[5][6] The driver, Jacob Humphreys, was arrested upon being released from hospital and charged with ten counts of culpable homicide; he was initially held in custody[7] but was later released on bail.[8] On 12 December 2011 he was convicted in the Western Cape High Court on ten counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder[9] and on 28 February 2012 he was sentenced to an effective twenty years in prison.[10] On 22 March 2013 the Supreme Court of Appeal reduced the conviction to culpable homicide and the sentence to an effective eight years' imprisonment.[11]
