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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. The minibus was carrying fourteen children to school; nine died on the scene and five were hospitalised. One of the injured children died two days later in the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. The minibus driver was also hospitalised; there were no injuries aboard the train.

An initial investigation by the Railway Safety Regulator determined that the lights and booms at the crossing were in full working order. Witnesses stated that the minibus drove around a queue of stopped cars and past the closed half-booms blocking the crossing. 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 but was later released on bail. On 12 December 2011 he was convicted in the Western Cape High Court on ten counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder and on 28 February 2012 he was sentenced to an effective twenty years in prison. On 22 March 2013 the Supreme Court of Appeal reduced the conviction to culpable homicide and the sentence to an effective eight years' imprisonment.

See also

• 2010 in rail transport
• 2010 in South Africa
• Rail transport in South Africa
• List of level crossing accidents
• List of rail accidents (2010-present)
• Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident, 1972 accident involving U.S. school bus driver who also tried to beat a train at a crossing, killing five students

References

1. "Blackheath Train Accident" (Press release). Western Cape Department of Health. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
2. ^ Davids, Nashira (25 August 2010). "Nine children killed in crash". Times Live. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
3. "10th train crash victim dies". News24. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
4. ^ "Booms 'were working when train crashed'". Independent Online. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
5. "'Driver may have ignored boom'". News24. 25 August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
6. "'Reckless' driver killed school kids - MEC". Independent Online. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
7. Maclennan, Ben (31 August 2010). "Taxi driver appears in court following horror crash". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
8. Davids, Nashira (7 September 2010). "Bail for taxi disaster driver". Times Live. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
9. "Cape Town driver guilty of kids' deaths". News24. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
10. Etheridge, Jenna (28 February 2012). "Killer taxi driver gets 20 years". Independent Online. Sapa. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
11. Schroeder, Fatima (23 March 2013). "Why Humphreys' 20 years was cut to 8". Weekend Argus. Retrieved 12 November 2013.

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Cape Town • Outline

• Railway accidents in 2010
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• Level crossing incidents in South Africa
• Road incidents in South Africa
• Transport in Cape Town
• August 2010 events in South Africa
• 2010 disasters in South Africa
• 2010s in Cape Town