A Spoornet engineer was questioned in the Paarl Regional Court on Thursday about a Metrorail passenger coach that smashed into a goods train near Muldersvlei three years ago, killing 10 people.
Hennie Klopper, a mechanical engineer, was giving evidence in the culpable homicide trial of Mervyne Mathee, 59. Mathee was driving the commuter train on January 7, 2003.
Prosecutor Enslin Orange alleges that Matthee negligently failed to stop at three red-light signals, which caused his train to plough into the goods train.
At Thursday's proceedings, before magistrate Anna-Marie Immelman and assessor David Klatzow, it emerged that nine of the dead had fallen through the collapsed floor of their carriage.
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| 'Extremely difficult' to analyse the situation |
Questioned by both the defence team, John van der Berg and Hannes de Beer, and by Klatzow about this, Klopper said it was possible the floor would not have collapsed had its undercarriage been in a better mechanical condition.
Klopper said he was unable to give an opinion about the condition of the undercarriage.
Van der Berg asked: "If I suggest that nine of the 10 deceased were in this particular coach, can you say what would have happened if the floor had not been defective?"
Klopper replied: "They would not have fallen through the floor."
Pressed about this by Klatzow, Klopper said it was "extremely difficult" for him to analyse the situation.
He added: "I cannot say specifically that, had the coach been in optimal condition, the floor would not have collapsed and no one would have been killed."
Earlier, Metrorail section head Hennie Pretorius told the court a group of hysterical politicians' wives at the crash scene had added to his burden as he investigated the smash.
He said the politicians had included the late Dullah Omar, the then minister of transport, and Western Cape MECs Leonard Ramatlakana (community safety), Cobus Dowry (local government) and Tasneem Essop (transport).
Pretorius said he had warned the politicians repeatedly that what they were about to see was "not nice", but they insisted on their wives' presence.
Pretorius added: "I eventually ended up with hysterical wives in a tent, which added to my burden and distracted me."
The hearing continues on Friday. - Sapa
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