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CCTV footage used to nab suspect linked to Cape Town train blaze

One suspect has been arrested in connection with the fire that damaged several train carriages in Cape Town on Sunday. 

"Surveillance footage was used to identify the suspect," said Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut.

He said the 30-year-old resident of Khayelitsha was detained by police after he was apprehended by Prasa officials.

The arrest comes a day after 12 train carriages were gutted during a fire at the Cape Town station on Sunday.

The suspect will appear in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court once he has been charged.

Traut added that the possibility of more arrests was not ruled out. 

The cost of rolling stock repairs for the train carriages destroyed in the blaze was estimated at R33m, News24 reported earlier.

Metrorail group chief strategy officer Dr Sipho Sithole said approximately 300 metres of centenary and contact wires which are critical to automate train control has been damaged.

On Monday, Transport Minister Blade Nzimande blamed the fire on a "relentless force",  saying it was "now undeniable that there is a sinister force at work trying to destroy our rail system". 

The minister called on law enforcement to arrest the perpetrators behind the "sabotage" to the Metrorail trains in Cape Town.

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