Boy dies on train track
Sheldon Semvua, 13, was killed while playing with his friends on train tracks when he was electrocuted by a high voltage overhead power line.
|||Kimberley - A 13-year-old boy was killed while playing on train tracks near Greenpoint when he was electrocuted by a high voltage overhead power line.
Sheldon Semvua and a group of friends were apparently jumping on the stationary containers along the railway line at about 6pm on Monday evening when the incident occurred.
Friends in the neighbourhood, who witnessed the incident, rushed to the scene when they saw him hurtling towards the ground.
“We are not sure if he touched the cable or if it hit his head. He was still breathing when we got to him but was not able to speak. The skin on his toes was badly burnt.”
Family members were on Tuesday still in shock over Sheldon’s death.
Anna Kruger was heartbroken at the loss of her son, who was a Grade 7 learner at the Du Toitspan Primary School.
“I loved him dearly. His eight-year-old brother has been crying uncontrollably since he heard about his brother’s death. They were very close.”
Semvua’s aunt, Margaret Booysen, said that her 15-year-old son was on his way home from a church function when he stumbled upon the scene.
“It was the first time that Sheldon went to play on the train tracks. My son said that he mumbled his name before he died.”
She stated that, according to eyewitnesses, Sheldon suffered burn marks to his upper lip, face and toes where holes were burnt through his socks.
“He was a clever child and would have started high school next year. We cannot make any funeral arrangements until the autopsy is completed and Sheldon’s father arrives from Cape Town.”
Booysen indicated that pedestrians regularly made a hole in the wall to access the railway line as a thoroughfare.
“The children use the gap in the wall to play there.”
A relative, Els Matsobane, added that it was impossible to prevent children from wandering onto the train tracks.
“There are no facilities for the children in Greenpoint. Sheldon went along with three of his friends that attend the same class and another group of children.”
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Sergio Kock, said the police had opened an inquest into the boy’s death.
“It is alleged that the deceased and a friend were playing in the Transnet Marshall Yard in Beaconsfield when he was shocked by an electric train-line wire.”
Anyone with more information regarding the incident is requested to contact Detective Warrant Officer Patrick Dibebe on 082 494 9982.
The police investigation continues.
Diamond Fields Advertiser