Train derailment claims four lives
https://37bloggers.blogspot.com/2016/05/train-derailment-claims-four-lives-in.html
Train derailment claims four lives
An
11-coach train with one cargo coach at the weekend derailed in Jebba,
Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State. Four people died and three
were injured.
An eyewitness said yesterday that the train derailed on Saturday night.
Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation Mr. Sabiu Zakari said
yesterday that families of two of the victims had been identified. He
went on an inspection of the scene, representing Minister Chibuike
Amaechi.
“We were
informed when the accident happened and we swung into action
immediately, but it is unfortunate that we lost four people, while three
others sustained injuries. The three injured have been treated and
discharged. The Federal Government picked up their bills.
“For
the dead, we have been able to identify two of them at the mortuary and
we have contacted their families. We will continue to look for the
families of the remaining two. Once we get them, government will take
responsibility of their burial and we will also facilitate the
transportation of the bodies to their relations,” he said.
Managing
Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Fidet Okhiria said: “No
time for blame game but to reflect on what happened, mourn those who
died and commiserate with their families.”
But he said those in the coach were illegal passengers who hid in the loads packed by the coach.
“There
are 12 coaches going to Kano from Lagos and 11 of them are already in
Kano. The last one was the one that was involved in the accident. The
train that was involved in the accident is not a passenger coach but a
carrier one. So those people who died there are illegal passengers who
hide in the loads.”
Mr. Okhiria said there is life insurance for drivers being managed by the Industrial and General Insurance (IGI).
He
confirmed that the government is working to change the narrow gauge to
standard ones, saying work is going on at Abuja-Kaduna rail line,
Lagos-Calabar rail line and many others, which will be changed from
narrow gauge to standard one.
The
father of one of the victims whose severed body was seen, Mallam
Muhammed Usman, said he was on the scene to appeal to the government to
release the half body in the mortuary to them for burial.
He
lamented that he didn’t understand why his son, Aliyu Usman, was
involved in the accident because he was an employee of the NRC working
between Mokwa and Minna.
He added that his deceased son allegedly travelled to Offa in Offa Local Government Area of the state.
Residents
of Jebba where the accident happened urged the Federal Government to
assist them to find a solution to railway problems in the country,
saying the accident was about the fourth they would witness within a few
years.