Prasa still has no idea how a train went off the rails in Paarl on Tuesday.
About 600 metres from Dal Josafat station the passenger train derailed, leaving 25 passengers injured.
Resident Andrew Martlow says he heard a strange loud noise and went to go see what was happening.
He explains: "When I went out the three carriages were already flung metres away from the other part of the train.
"Some passengers had started jumping out of the stationary train, they were in a state of shock. They were helping each other to get off the truck. We realised that there were people who were trapped inside the three carts."
His son Ulrich sprang into action.
Andrew adds: "He took a scissor jack and used it to free a person whose thigh was stuck in between metal pieces.
“There were three people who were trapped. If the train was speeding there would have been much more damage."
Assessing the situation, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) acting regional manager Raymond Maseko reports: "The train was en route to Wellington from Cape Town and carrying about 300 to 400 commuters, 25 of them were seriously injured and 5 of them were classified as seriously injured.
“They were taken to Paarl Medi Clinic, Paarl General Hospital and Stellenbosch Medi Clinic.“
He says the train was supposed to pull into Platform 2 and while the first three coaches were on the correct track, the eight others were pulling to another track and hit something.
He says they are now investigating which track had been selected for the train and what went wrong.
The eight carriages have been taken to the Salt River depot.
Maseko says this was the worst derailment he's seen in his career.
He adds: "Ordinarily derailment ends in the order of 200 or 300 metres. In the nature where it happened you'd find the coaches lying in the same direction.
“That indicates that, in our thinking, what the passengers would have experienced is a bumpy ride.
“This is not a train that experienced a bumpy ride, it's on its side and it proceeded on it.
“The following coaches were on its sleepers and the passengers were listening to a sound every single time it hit something. I'm certain it was a traumatic experience."
Prasa Group CEO Hishaam Emeran was also at the site for a briefing from his team.
He says: "A report was sent to our sister company Transnet, who will now start embarking on the necessary investigations."
Emeran said he would visit the wounded passengers in hospital.
He confirmed that Prasa will be offering their “support and counselling” to the passengers and deal with issues such as insurance and claims in the coming days.
He explained that while the damage is being fixed, the line has been closed and trains will stop at Kraaifontein for now.
Portfolio Committee on Transport chairman Donald Selamolela was also at the scene and said he was worried that commuters would be forced to dig deep in their pockets for alternative transport while the services are suspended.