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Johannesburg - Sixty-nine people were confirmed injured, one critically, in a stampede at a Transnet office in Bloemfontein on Friday, said the Free State department of health.
"People stormed an exam room at around 8am," said spokesperson Jabu Mbalula.
Thousands of job seekers flocked to Transnet's school of rail hoping to get jobs advertised in the local newspaper, he said. No deaths were reported.
"The situation is calm now and the area has been cleared."
Paramedics found chaos when they arrived on the scene, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.
"People were lying all over the place and some were screaming and crying," he said. "A woman sustained critical head injuries and was transported to the Pelonomi hospital."
Transnet confirmed that about 40 people were injured - including four of its workers.
However, it denied reports of any fatalities.
"One of our divisions, Transnet rail engineering in Bloemfontein, advertised process worker placement assessment in local newspapers scheduled for today. This was for 30 vacancies.
"We expected approximately 4 000 candidates. As a result, we arranged two halls accommodating 400 each for the 30-minute assessments. We estimated that the process would take about four hours to complete.
Unexpected crowd
"However, at approximately 07:00, an estimated 5 000 people were already queuing for the assessment. In total, about 10 000 candidates responded. This was obviously more people than we had anticipated. SAPS and local security personnel were present to assist with the controlling of the crowd and traffic," Transnet said.
It said: "At 07:45, about 2 000 people were allowed into the premises. At 08:00 the first 400 started to write the assessment and the crowd outside the gate started panicking in fear that they would not be allowed to write. The advert had stated that the gates would be locked at 08:00. Officials were dispatched to calm the people down and advise them not to panic as they would all be allowed in.
"The crowd became unruly, some started jumping over the fence, forcing security to lock the gates to try and contain the situation. The crowd continued to push the gate, resulting in a stampede."
"All the injured were taken to various hospitals and there were no fatalities," the parastatal said.
"Due to this unfortunate incident, we had to cancel the process until further notice."
"People stormed an exam room at around 8am," said spokesperson Jabu Mbalula.
Thousands of job seekers flocked to Transnet's school of rail hoping to get jobs advertised in the local newspaper, he said. No deaths were reported.
"The situation is calm now and the area has been cleared."
Paramedics found chaos when they arrived on the scene, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.
"People were lying all over the place and some were screaming and crying," he said. "A woman sustained critical head injuries and was transported to the Pelonomi hospital."
Transnet confirmed that about 40 people were injured - including four of its workers.
However, it denied reports of any fatalities.
"One of our divisions, Transnet rail engineering in Bloemfontein, advertised process worker placement assessment in local newspapers scheduled for today. This was for 30 vacancies.
"We expected approximately 4 000 candidates. As a result, we arranged two halls accommodating 400 each for the 30-minute assessments. We estimated that the process would take about four hours to complete.
Unexpected crowd
"However, at approximately 07:00, an estimated 5 000 people were already queuing for the assessment. In total, about 10 000 candidates responded. This was obviously more people than we had anticipated. SAPS and local security personnel were present to assist with the controlling of the crowd and traffic," Transnet said.
It said: "At 07:45, about 2 000 people were allowed into the premises. At 08:00 the first 400 started to write the assessment and the crowd outside the gate started panicking in fear that they would not be allowed to write. The advert had stated that the gates would be locked at 08:00. Officials were dispatched to calm the people down and advise them not to panic as they would all be allowed in.
"The crowd became unruly, some started jumping over the fence, forcing security to lock the gates to try and contain the situation. The crowd continued to push the gate, resulting in a stampede."
"All the injured were taken to various hospitals and there were no fatalities," the parastatal said.
"Due to this unfortunate incident, we had to cancel the process until further notice."
