Seven killed in Cape Town train crash

Seven people were killed in South Africa today when a train ploughed into a pickup truck at a crossing where 10 children were killed in a similar accident in 2010, officials said.

The seven victims, all men in their 30s, were reportedly travelling to work when their truck was struck by the train shortly before dawn in Blackheath on the outskirts of Cape Town.

"It was human error," Metrorail spokeswoman Zino Mihi said.

"The booms were down, so it was not their turn to go. People on the scene told us a taxi initially passed through and the bakkie (truck) also tried its luck." The Toyota Hilux vehicle was left a mangled wreck on the rail tracks after the accident.

After the 2010 accident, the driver of a minibus carrying children was convicted of 10 counts of culpable homicide.