Albert Luthuli inquest: Eyewitness account of train driver thrust under spotlight

CAPE TOWN - A police crime scene analyst has called into question the eyewitness account of the train driver who was in the cab when anti-apartheid stalwart Chief Albert Luthuli was killed in July 1967. 

Warrant officer Brendan Burgess told the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, that Luthuli’s injuries, as documented in his autopsy, are inconsistent with the train driver’s version of events. 

Burgess was charged with retracing Luthuli’s steps on that fateful day, measuring out the accident scene and reconsidering the evidence presented in the first inquest.

A fractured rib and skull, and a broken left elbow, were the only injuries three doctors noted on the body of Luthuli. 

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Burgess said that when considering the evidence presented in the first inquest, the injuries don’t match the eyewitness account of the train driver. 

The court was shown two videos of Burgess’ work, which included a visit to a train yard in Pretoria where the same model of locomotive is still stored, and a briefing he received from a train expert on how it operates. 

“When I look at the description of how Luthuli was found on the track, he would have had to have fallen between the coaches, in order to get into the position in which he was found. In order to do that without sustaining any further injuries, he would have had to have fallen at the exact same speed the train was travelling at. I believe that is highly unlikely,” Burgess told the court. 

Burgess said that for Luthuli to have sustained the injuries as recorded, he would have had to be walking in the same direction in which the locomotive was travelling, despite the train driver claiming he was walking towards it. 

He further noted that Luthuli did not sustain any injuries on or above his right shoulder, despite the train driver claiming he was hit on this side. 

The hearing continues.