55 Dead , 575 Injured In Cameroon Train Derailment... Death Toll May Rise

DERAILED TRAIN

At least 55 people have been killed and some 575 others injured some very seriously, following a train derailment which occurred in Eseka, Nyong and Kele, Division, Center Region of Cameroon, October 21 2016.

Transport Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o told state media after visiting the site of the accident, that 14 people were still trapped in wagons, while another train will have to transport the corpses to the nation’s capital, Yaounde.

VICTIMS

The train named Intercity 102 that left the capital Yaoundé for the port city of Douala shortly before midday, derailed at the Eseka terminal under still to be clarified circumstances.

Though the government is yet to explain what must have transpired for the 15 wagon train to derail and overturn, there are heavy suspicions that it was overloaded.

“There are indications that the train was overloaded. Remember that the main road linking Yaoundé and Douala was completely cut and many other people had to resort to using trains. 

My relative who was travelling from Yaounde to Douala was prevented from boarding the train after officials told him it was full to capacity. Thank God for my brother’s life,” narrates Paul Nkamankeng a Cameroonian resident in South Africa.

Communication Minister, Issa Tchiroma also said investigations have been opened to identify the causes of the tragedy and requested the respect of the dignity of the lives of the victims and that of their families.

COMMUTERS CROSSING NEAR CUT ROAD

Concordant reports say the survivors are receiving treatment in different hospitals around the region where the accident occurred and it remained unclear at the time of filing in this report, 

whether Cameroon’s rail way company, Camrail had the necessary insurance policies that covers the passengers.

Earlier on it was the road linking the political and economic capital, Yaounde and Douala respectively,that witnessed a collapse around Matomb in the Nyong and Kelle Division. No one was injured although commuters had to use alternative routes to get to their destination.

The incident is said to be affecting transportation of goods and persons to landlocked Chad and the Central African Republic that makes use of Cameroon’s port of Douala.