I guess this is living (sic) proof that the Kei Rail train is still running!
Sleeping man lives after train hits car.
24 August 2011
by SINO MAJANGAZA
A MTHATHA man who was asleep on the back seat of his car when it was hit by a train yesterday thanked his ancestors he was still alive.
Police are investigating the possibility of a murder attempt.
Fikile Mantanga’s Toyota Cressida was struck near Payne location by the Kei Rail train just before 6am.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant- Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the vehicle’s right-hand side was badly damaged and the collision dislodged a rear tyre and shattered windows.
He said at the time of the accident, the car was parked on the tracks with Mantanga asleep on the back seat.
"The car was found with its battery disconnected so that it would not be able to start. We strongly believe there was foul play involved."
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, Mantanga, 39 , said he did not recall how his car ended up on the railway line. He remembers being on his way home from a local tavern at about 10pm on Tuesday night. "[The next morning] I was woken up by someone who told me that my car had been hit by a train," Mantanga said.
Tavern owner Zamikhaya Plaatjie confirmed that Mantanga had left just before 10pm but could shed no further light on what happened.
Happy to be alive, Mantanga thanked his ancestors for protecting him.
"I was supposed to be dead, but the Fakus and Nyawuzas did not agree. I thank them for saving my life," he said, singing praises to his clan ancestors.
Mantanga said he would soon host a thanksgiving ceremony .
"It is not the first time this year that I have escaped death ."
He said this ordeal comes just five months after he was kidnapped from a local tavern, taken to a forest in Mqanduli and stabbed.
Mantanga’s mother, Nowanisi, believes a heavenly hand has played a role in saving her son’s life.