Peter Holmes a Court wedding tragedy

Entrepreneur Peter Holmes a Court has postponed his wedding after a train crash killed a close friend and injured others who had flown to Africa to watch him marry his American fiancee.

The part-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs was to have married award-winning photographer Alissa Everett in Botswana on Sunday.

But the big day was put off after last Tuesday afternoon's crash.

The Australian reports that the wedding party was aboard a sightseeing tram to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe when it was hit hard from behind by a larger freight train.

Twenty of the 32 passengers on board the tram were injured.

One of the injured men, an American who was a close friend of the groom, died in the accident.

The best man-to-be also suffered a broken arm.

Peter Holmes a Court's younger brother Paul said his brother and Ms Everett were unhurt but "naturally very shaken and saddened".

Mr Holmes a Court’s father, Robert, was born in South Africa and spent much of his young life in Zimbabwe before migrating to Australia and becoming the country’s first billionaire.

Peter Holmes a Court reportedly had been in Africa for almost a month to revisit his famous family's connections and help Ms Everett in her charitable work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.