A train yesterday derailed at Ashade Railway crossing, Agege, Lagos with one person dead and several injured.
The railway District Manager of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Jerry Ochi confirmed that the victim died at NRC Hospital Ebute Metta while receiving treatment.
According to Ochi “Casualty is one person as at the last check, with several injured.”
The train had over 2,000 passengers and was on the route of Ebute-Metta via Oshodi from Iju when three of the coaches derailed on getting to a degraded part of the rail line in Agege.
According to eye witnesses, those who hung on top of the affected coaches sustained severe injuries as they were flung in different directions as a result of the impact of the accident.
One of the passengers, a pregnant woman, who identified herself as Mrs Modinat Ismaila, sustained bruises on her face and arms, while her five-year-old baby had a swollen jaw.
Ismaila said “I did not know how it happened because I was sleeping. I was jolted from sleep by the loud noise, by the time I opened my eyes, the whole place was in disarray, as other passengers were struggling to jump out.
“One of the men, who saw my condition, attempted to help me out through one of the openings. But as I was about carrying my child, other people shoved me out of the way, causing me to fall.
“But the Good Samaritan lifted me up and struggled his way to the entrance, where he asked me to jump out. As he was about coming out with my daughter, other passengers pushed them, causing my daughter to fall, hitting her head on the ground. But for the Good Samaritan, the injury would have been more severe.”
Another passenger by the name Chijioke Nwadi said “I was inside the coach directly behind the one that derailed. It caused ours to swerve vigorously. I jumped out because I was close to the door. Fortunately for me, I only sustained bruises on my knee. I was among those who helped the trapped passengers out. One of them was an old man. He was motionless when he was brought out. There was no phone on him to contact members of his family.
“Immediately the incident occurred, we started contacting our loved ones and relevant agencies to come to the aid of trapped passengers.
“When news men got to the scene, efforts were on to evacuate the three affected coaches. Some personnel from various security agencies were on ground to cordon off the area, maintain law and order while the injured were rushed to hospitals in the neighbourhood for treatment.
However, the General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu, stated that a preliminary investigation revealed that the train derailed as a result of faulty tracks.
He said LASEMA and other relevant agencies of the state government would soon have stakeholders’ meeting with the Nigeria Railway Corporation management on the way to avoid future occurrence.
Meanwhile the Lagos Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, Ms Khadijat Aroyewun, described the situation as unfortunate.
Aroyewun said “ Our engineers do checks on the track every day before the trains go out to ascertain the viability of the track. So no track has been neglected to be maintained. We are still investigating the accident. The report of the investigation will be made public.”
