A blood-splattered walking ring is all that was left after two little brothers were crushed by a train on Thursday.
Two year-old Salie Smith and his three-year-old brother Faiek didn’t stand a chance when the train slammed into them close to Nyanga Junction, near Cape Town, at about 5pm.
Their bodies lay like rag dolls along the tracks as a crowd of people gathered around, some murmuring: “Where was the mother?”
Cops say the toddlers’ mom Shafeeqah Smith, 21, was searching for them in Tambo Square Village, Manenberg, while they lay crushed near the tracks.
Also at the scene lay their crushed walking ring, splattered with blood.
On the scene, Shafeeqah, surrounded by relatives, was urged by Metrorail and police not to talk to the media.
But as she stood just metres from the bodies, the stunned mom said: “Hulle is al twee my kinders, hulle is broers [They are both my children. They are brothers].”
She then mumbled that they were her only kids.
The young mother says she was not present when the incident occurred and could not comment on how the two kids ended up unsupervised on a railway track.
When asked if they were playing, she shook her head.
An aunt, who stood hugging the young mother, said they believe the children were playing near the tracks.
The children live just a stone’s throw from where they died.
Community leader Desiree Paris says: “I was called and told there were two bodies there but I was shocked when I saw it was two children.
“This makes me angry because in a time when government wants votes, they make promises like putting up fences and creating playgrounds for children but there’s no play facilities for kids here.” - Daily Voice
That makes me not read the whole article.