A South African luxury train transporting international tourists to Zimbabwe for the Easter holiday collided with a freight locomotive on Friday, causing several carriages to derail and resulting in multiple injuries.
The incident occurred near the town of Gwanda in southern Zimbabwe. The Rovos Rail train was en route from Pretoria to Victoria Falls when it crashed into a freight train operated by a local railway service.
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According to the company operating the luxury train, four crew members were injured, while no guest injuries had been confirmed, although some passengers were being monitored as a precaution.
However, a local railway employee reported that a total of 18 individuals sustained injuries in the collision. Of those, 14 were taken to Gwanda Provincial Hospital and four others to a hospital in Bulawayo. It was not immediately clear how many of the injured were passengers or crew members, or whether the number included individuals from the freight train.
Photos shared online depicted emergency workers navigating through the wreckage and carrying an injured man on a stretcher.
There were at least 47 tourists aboard the Rovos Rail train at the time of the accident. The cause of the collision has not yet been determined.
Rovos Rail, which began operations in 1989, offers luxury train journeys across Africa. The Victoria Falls route spans approximately 1,400 kilometers and typically takes three to four nights, running from Pretoria to Bulawayo.
