TWO families are grieving after an eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old woman were killed after being struck by trains in two separate Western Cape incidents a day apart\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruche Basson, a Grade 2 learner at Vlottenburg Primary School in Stellenbosch, was on her way home from school on Tuesday afternoon when she was struck by a train at Lynedoch train station.<\/p>\n
The eight-year-old was struck at about 2.18pm on 25 August and was declared dead at the scene.<\/p>\n
Provincial police spokesperson Thembakazi Mpendukana said: \u201cA culpable homicide case has been opened at Stellenbosch SAPS on Tuesday, 25 August.<\/p>\n
“This follows an accident whereby an eight-year-old girl was hit by a train after school, at around 2.18pm and was declared deceased on the crime scene by medical personnel. Investigation continues and no arrest has been made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vlottenburg Primary School paid tribute to Ruche in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
The school said: \u201cWith deep sadness, we say goodbye to one of our beloved learners, Ruche Basson [in] Grade 2 from Vlottenburg Primary, who passed away [on Tuesday].<\/p>\n
“Our hearts are broken and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, loved ones, classmates and the entire Vlottenburg Primary and Lynedoch community during this incredibly difficult time.<\/p>\n
“May the beautiful memories of her always live in our hearts. May God grant her family strength, comfort and peace in the days that lie ahead.<\/p>\n
“Rest easy, dear angel. You will always be part of the Vlottenburg family. Our deepest sympathy to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following afternoon, a 34-year-old woman was struck by a train while attempting to cross the tracks at a railway station in Newlands.<\/p>\n
The incident happened at about 4.05pm on Wednesday, August 26.<\/p>\n
A picture showed the woman\u2019s body beside the train tracks as authorities attended the scene.<\/p>\n
Provincial police spokesperson Constable Ndakhe Gwala said: \u201cThis office confirms that Claremont police opened a case of culpable homicide following an accident that occurred at a railway station in Newlands on Wednesday, 26 August 2026, at about 4.05pm.<\/p>\n
“According to reports, a 34-year-old woman was struck by a train while attempting to cross on the train tracks. She was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TWO families are grieving after an eight-year-old schoolgirl and a 34-year-old woman were killed after being struck by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[179834,4370,36081,3097,189869,47026,4151,18965,189867,189871,131,38467,189872,38272,13407,189868,189870],"class_list":["post-397912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-claremont","tag-facebook","tag-girl","tag-god","tag-lynedoch","tag-mpendukana","tag-ndakhe-gwala","tag-newlands","tag-ruche-basson","tag-ruche-basson-grade-2","tag-south-africa","tag-stellenbosch","tag-stellenbosch-saps","tag-thembakazi-mpendukana","tag-train","tag-vlottenburg-primary","tag-vlottenburg-primary-school"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117167861598754578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}