Train death shocks
2010-10-28
Lise Beyers
TRAGEDY struck on Monday morning when the mother of two young girls died instantly when her car was struck by a train, barely minutes after having dropped her daughters off at school. Sorette Fourie (39), executive assistant at Santé Winelands Hotel, had dropped her children off at their respective schools, before continuing to her workplace as usual. At the railway crossing on the Simonsvlei road to Santé, south of Paarl, Sorette crossed the railway line directly in front of an approaching MetroRail train travelling in the direction of Cape Town. The train driver was only able to halt the train a few hundred metres from the crossing, dragging the vehicle in front of it. An employee of Rautenbach Transport located within a stone‘s throw from the crossing, Marna Burger, had been travelling behind Sorette’s metallic blue Hyundai Getz, when the incident occurred. Just before the railway crossing she was about to turn left, when the train crashed into the Hyundai. “That morning I didn’t hear the hooter of the train and I suspect the the driver may have been blinded by the sun and unable to see the approaching train on her left. “I rushed to work and immediately contacted the police and the ambulance.” After this, chaos erupted on the scene. Hundreds of inquisitive commuters disembarked from the train and rushed to the wreckage of the vehicle. One commuter, Zimbini France, who studies in Panorama, said that the incident took place in a split second. “We were still talking and laughing when we felt a heavy thud. The train started to slow down, but it was also rocking slightly as if it was going to derail. “We were all caught by surprise and did not have any idea what was happening. “Only when the train came to a stop and we got off, did we see the horror with our own eyes.” Sorette’s daughters are Lize Marie (15), a Grade 9 scholar at Paarl Girls’ High, and Stefanie (14), in Grade 7 at Courtrai Primary School. She was divorced from her husband, Ernst, and living in Paarl North. Many questions are now being asked about the cause of the accident and the safety of the level crossing. In 1995, a lorry landed up in front of an on-coming train on this very same spot. A highly emotional Carlos Vilela, CEO of Santé, said this week that the railway crossing situated about 2 kilometres from the hotel, as well as the gravel road, has always in his opinion been very dangerous. Vilela has been trying to convince authorities to upgrade the crossing and the road since before he took over the hotel. “If only there had been a boom or a warning light at this crossing, maybe a precious life could have been saved, but now I have to bury a single mother of two because there were no proper safety measures in place. “The recent 2010 World Cup has cost so much in infrastructure and stadiums, with the authorities doing whatever FIFA and the LOC wanted. But ordinary people like Sorette never got a simple railway crossing boom or a tarred road to ensure that they reached their places of work safely.” But according to the authorities, the level crossing is protected by the statutory and legally requisite signage. Metrorail has once again implored motorists to approach level crossings with extreme caution and to always obey the rules of the road. Condolences haved been pouring in over the past few days to both Santé and Sorette’s family. Even popular crooner Kurt Darren managed to contact Vilela, to express is shock at the tragedy. Grieveing staff members of Santé Winelands Hotel and family members gathered next to the railway track where the accident had occurred, to lay wreaths in memory of Sorette on Tuesday morning. “Sorette was a much loved individual and she was the backbone of Santé. She would do anything for anybody. “I am not going to allow her death to be in vain.” The funeral will be held in the Strooidak Church at 10:00 tomorrow.
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