Two trains collided near South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg on Tuesday, lightly injuring more than 200 people, less than a week after a rail crash killed 19 passengers. "Human error" was responsible for the accident, which occurred at Germiston, east of Johannesburg, the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) of South Africa said.

It said a train was authorised to enter the station while another one was still there, "which subsequently resulted in a rear-end collision." A total of 226 people were slightly or moderately injured, the RSR said.

On Thursday, a passenger train travelling from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg smashed into a lorry at a level crossing near Kroonstad in central Free State and burst into flames, killing four children and 15 other people. South African police have launched a manslaughter investigation, with the lorry driver central to the probe. The RSR said the man was not drunk at the time.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance party said "the two accidents are emblematic of poor investment" in rail safety.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018