A collision between two trains east of Johannesburg on Thursday morning occurred when trains were manually authorised to move as a result of cable theft in the area.

A person was killed and 102 others were injured when two trains collided at around 6.25am on Thursday.

 Metrorail also said it had appointed a technical team to investigate the cause.

 The commuter rail service said a Business Express train from Pretoria to Johannesburg had collided with an empty train that was travelling to Leralla station from the yard.

The collision resulted in numerous carriages of the trains leaning to their sides.

 At the time of the accident‚ trains were manually authorised between Olifantsfontein and Elandsfontein due to theft of signalling power cables that had occurred in the early hours of Thursday‚ Metrorail said.

The 102 injured commuters were taken to a nearby hospital‚ where they were being given medical care and treatment‚ Metrorail said in a statement released on social media around 11.30 on Thursday.

Metrorail said one man who was on the empty train was killed. Initial reports had suggested that a train driver was killed.

“We are investigating the reasons why he was on board a train that was not in service. Metrorail Gauteng sincerely regrets the loss of life and conveys its sincere apologies to the family of the deceased‚” Gauteng Metrorail acting provincial manager Goodman Matampi said.

Because of the collision‚ which resulted in the loss of overhead power on all four lines between Germiston and Kempton Park stations‚ Metrorail will be utilising buses to ferry commuters between Kaalfontein and Germiston stations.