Rovos Rail crash - pictures

[John Ashworth]

These 5 pictures have been sent to the FOTR Forum but I'm not sure who is the copyright holder. We will credit the photographer or remove them if contacted.

[Luca Lategan]

DIS nou wat ek noem, Moertoe!

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Something we could have done without.!

[Jez Smith]

DIS nou wat ek noem, Moertoe!

Sorry?

[Dylan Knott]

He means FUBAR!

May I add since people died in this accident it could be considered to be bad taste to publish too many of these images on a public forum. Just my opinion!

[Luca Lategan]

Found this airial view here.

The area inclosed by the red circle must be where it happened. One can clearly see how close it happed to the Main Pretoria Station. The yard to the the right of the green field is the Blue train depot. The white Y-shape is the new viaducts for the Gautrain, ending in their new station. The blue containers in the above pictures is part of the construction for the Gautrain.

Yes, very sad pictures and the crash was very unnecessary

[John Ashworth]

Dylan, thanks for your observation, and for the timely reminder that, tragically, people died. We'll try to keep a balance between good taste and the genuine railway interest of forum members. I hope you and others will let us know if you think we've gone too far.

[Dylan Knott]

All good. Just avoid photos were casualties are being evacuated or treated by medical staff.

[Jez Smith]

He means FUBAR!
?????

[ANDRE GUELPA]

All good. Just avoid photos were casualties are being evacuated or treated by medical staff.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A PHOTO WHERE CASUALTIES ARE TREAED OR EVACUATED.THAT IS ALL PART OF THE TRADEGY YOU CAN,T HIDE THE FACTS IT HAPPEND AND WE ARE SAD ABOUT TH HOLE ACCIDENT.DONT JUST REMEMBER THE ACCIDENT AND FORGET THE PEOPLE THAT WAS INVOLVED.

[Steve Appleton]

As an administrator of this forum and as an occasional moderator, I support Andre on this one.

This is a dilemma which faces journalists and news photographers all the time. The conundrum is how to report a situation accurately, giving it the prominence it may deserve yet, at the same time, be sensitive to the feelings and misery suffered by the people involved and also to respect the feelings of the reader/viewer.

It is therefore usual to avoid gory scenes and closeups, as well as pictures of uncovered dead bodies. That rule is variable. In riot and war situations, it acceptable in my view to waive those rules somewhat in order to record the true scene. The truth must not be hidden just because someone does not like it. In accident situations, like this however, more sensitivity is required.

In my view, none of the above pictures transcends the limits of decency or personal privacy. This is an accident scene in a public space. The pictures are an accurate record of the scene as it was very soon after the accident. They do not show close-up gory details nor do they show images of those who died. They are not insensitive to the persons being rescued and indeed, they serve to illustrate what a good job the various EMS people, including a CasEvac helicopter, were doing. I have not heard a bad word about the response teams and I think we can be proud of the way this emergency was handled - absolutely essential given an upcoming main event (no names, FIFA won't let us ambush market).

For those reasons, the pictures remain unless the copyright holder objects or one of the other moderators believes otherwise - in which case I would put up a defense.

Now, Andre, I see this is your first post on this forum. Welcome and thank you. Ahem... a small point. Please try to avoid typing in all CAPITALS. It is more difficult to read and to some people, that is like SHOUTING!

[Dylan Knott]

The pictures on here are fine. What I wanted to add was we must avoid the gory ones. I am involved with emergency services and there is a policy in place regarding photos, particularly on the internet. As this forum is moderated there is no problem. So no worries from my side.
And Andre, there is no need to SHOUT!

[ANDRE GUELPA]

The pictures on here are fine. What I wanted to add was we must avoid the gory ones. I am involved with emergency services and there is a policy in place regarding photos, particularly on the internet. As this forum is moderated there is no problem. So no worries from my side.
And Andre, there is no need to SHOUT!

sorry Dylan wont happen again

[John Ashworth]

In pictures: South African train crash from the BBC

Sky News has a few seconds of video interview with Rohan Vos here