[Cape Town, WC 25 November 2012]
Two people have sustained injuries after they were involved in two separate incidents with trains today.
The first incident reported happened at around 7am this morning. A 29 year old woman is believed to have been rushing to board a train at the Unibell station in Belhar, but the train had started moving from the platform already. According to bystanders, the other occupants on the train had tried to assist the woman into the coach, but they lost their grip of the woman an she fell between the platform and the train.
Paramedics found the woman lying on the gravel portion at the side of the platform near the tracks and they treated her for suspected internal injuries before removing her from the area and transporting her to Tygerberg Hospital by ambulance.
Just before 2pm another incident was reported; this time it happened at Belmont Park in Kraaifontein. It is still not precisely clear as to what took place, but there was indication that the 27 year old man was pushed in front of a moving passenger train for some reason.
As soon as the bystanders saw what had happened they shouted to the conductor and he managed to stop the train. The patient was very lucky in this regard as when paramedics found him, he was alert and awake but was bleeding profusely from a gash to his head. He too was treated for his injuries before being transported to Tygerberg hospital.
In both incidents, the DoH WC EMS team and ER24 paramedics worked hand in hand to give the two patients the best care.
Vanessa Jackson, ER24