On November 15, 2019, a fatal passenger train accident at Palla Road near Mahalapye claimed the lives of two Botswana Railways (BR) crew members. The accident happened after flash floods carpeted a vast area along the rail tracks. Almost two years later, another accident – this one at Phakalane in Gaborone, claimed the lives of three more crew members. A letter written by the Botswana Transport and General Workers Union General Secretary, Thapelo Molefe, to a sub-committee of the Botswana Democratic Party National Executive Committee, connects the two accidents. The letter describes the accidents as “similar” and further notes that the first should have motivated appropriate response to prevent the second.
“This is a similar incident to the passenger train accident that occurred at Phala Road on 5th December 2019, in which two of our colleagues lost their lives,” writes Molefe in reference to the second accident. “There was a statutory enquiry thereafter, but to date we do not know what happened to its report, the recommendations of which, if implemented, we believe could go a long way in addressing the relative safety issues.”
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