Train derailment claims four lives in Kwara

                             •The derailed train coaches at Jebba, Kwara State...at the weekend

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.