MORE than 200 passengers were injured in a train collision in the east of South Africa’s financial centre Johannesburg today.

At least 226 people were taken to hospitals, “but most with minor injuries,” said Nana Radebe, spokeswoman for the city’s emergency management service.

No lives were lost at the Geldenhuis commuter train station, emergency response group ER24 said in a statement.

One Metrorail train ran into the rear of another that had broken down, South Africa’s railway safety regulator said in a statement.

The regulator blamed human error for sending the second train to the same platform, as the usual signalling system on that section of track had cable problems.

It was the second major rail accident in less than a week.

A crash in neighbouring Free State province last Thursday killed at least 19 people, with 15 more unaccounted for.