Pupils killed at Buttskop remembered

Cape Town - 150825 - The City of Cape Town unveiled the recently erected Buttskop Memorial Wall at the Welmoed Cemetery, Eerste River, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the tragic accident in August 2010 where 10 children lost their lives at the Buttskop level crossing in Blackheath. The children were being transported to school in a minibus-taxi which collided with a train. Reporter: Yolisa Tswanya Picture: David Ritchie

Cape Town - 150825 - The City of Cape Town unveiled the recently erected Buttskop Memorial Wall at the Welmoed Cemetery, Eerste River, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the tragic accident in August 2010 where 10 children lost their lives at the Buttskop level crossing in Blackheath. The children were being transported to school in a minibus-taxi which collided with a train. Reporter: Yolisa Tswanya Picture: David Ritchie

Published Aug 26, 2015

Share

Cape Town - Five years after 10 pupils – between the ages of 8 and 18 – were killed while on their way to school, their families are still finding it difficult to come to terms with their deaths.

The minibus taxi transporting them was hit by a passenger train at a level crossing in Blackheath.

The driver, Jacob Humphreys, jumped a queue of cars waiting to cross the Buttskop crossing and then attempted to cross the tracks while the booms were down, in August 2010.

Humphreys was originally handed a jail sentence of 20 years in December 2011 for his role in their deaths. However, on appeal, it was reduced to eight years.

On Tuesday, the City of Cape Town unveiled a memorial wall in the Welmoed cemetery – where six of the children are buried – in honour of the 10 children who died in the crash.

The family of Jason Pedro are still finding it difficult to deal with his death, but his mother, Ursula , said they soldier on each day.

“I dreaded this day, it still feels like you don’t want it to come because it just takes you back to that tragic day. It caused a lot of damage to my family.”

Jason, 15, was her eldest son. Pedro said her other sons sometimes still “struggle to go to school because of the pain”.

“My 16-year-old says he feels empty after his brother’s passing. But we are trying to cope, we take it step by step. We still can’t believe that it happened.”

She said the family were grateful for the wall of remembrance and said she liked the picture of her son placed in the plaque with her son’s name and date of birth.

At eight years old, Reece Smith was the youngest of the children.

His mother, Rochelle, said Reece’s brother, Wyman,16, was unable to verbalise what he felt, but “he was still very hurt”.

“It was a very hard and devastating week as it came closer to August 25. All that anxiety comes up again and all that pain.”

Reece’s father Bryan van Heerden said “they try to carry on even though the memory is still fresh” in their minds.

Deputy mayor Ian Neilson said the memorial wall came about after much consultation with the families and the sub-council.

“We hope this will help them towards some kind of closure,” Neilson said.

[email protected]

Cape Argus

Related Topics: