AgegePulse Magazine
One passenger died while many others were injured on Thursday when a mass transit shuttle train derailed at the Ashade railway crossing in the Mangoro area of Lagos State.
It was gathered that the accident occurred around 7am.
The Lagos Railway District Manager, Jerry Ochi, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the victim died at the NRC hospital in Ebute Meta while receiving treatment.
PUNCH Metro learnt that three coaches were affected and that the train was en route Ebute Meta, Lagos, from Ijoko in Ogun State.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement that investigation showed that the train derailed as a result of faulty tracks.
The agency explained that the faulty tracks had been reported by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority in the area and were noted for pending engineering works later in the day.
It said the injured victims were rushed to nearby hospitals for first aid.
The statement added, “Efforts are currently being made to evacuate the derailed coaches as the Nigerian Railway Corporation crane has been dispatched to the scene from the Lagos Island.
“The GM LASEMA, LRT, LRU Paramedics, LRU Fire, LASAMBUS, FRSC, RRS, LASTMA and the Nigeria Police are on ground to ensure a swift recovery. Recovery operation is ongoing by the officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.”
Scene of the derailed train
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Police Command, Chike Oti, had earlier said that only three people were injured.
“There was no death recorded but three people were injured and they have been taken to a nearby hospital. The derailed coach is being evacuated as I speak,” he told our correspondent.
The Public Relations Officer, NRC, Lagos, Khadijat Aroyewun, noted that the cause of the accident had yet to be ascertained, adding that preventive measures would be taken to prevent future occurrences.
She said, “This is just a one-off incident, which is rather unfortunate. The cause of the accident has not been ascertained; investigation will be carried out to ascertain the cause.
“However, the culture in the NRC is not only remedial but also preventive. What we do is that our technical experts ensure that the tracks are viable for movement before the trains are permitted to move on them. But when incidents like this occur, we make sure to find out the unforeseen factors that could have caused them and put in place future preventive measures.”
Copyright PUNCH.
