Four people travelling on a Lagos-Kano train died on Saturday when the train derailed at Jebba, Kwara State, with three other passengers injured.
The dead victims were said to have been trapped inside a guard van reserved for security personnel aboard the train.
The accident, which occurred around 7am, reportedly affected the train from the rear and destroyed its two baggage vans, one guard van and a power car.
Our correspondents learnt on Sunday that the accident occurred at the entrance of a railway station in Jebba, a town, which borders Kwara to Niger states.
The train, which left Lagos around noon on Friday and expected in Kano the following day, had about 1,000 passengers.
The Deputy Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr. Abdulraouf Akinwoye, confirmed the accident to journalists on Sunday, adding that the remains of the dead had been deposited at the mortuary.
He also said that those injured were treated at a nearby hospital and had been discharged.
Akinwoye told one of our correspondents on the telephone that the remaining stock of the train were recovered later and cleared to continue with the journey to Kano.
“As I speak, the train should be in Kano, having been cleared to continue with the journey. There was a high-powered team from the NRC headquarters in Lagos that carried out mechanical checks,” he said.
Sequel to the accident, the NRC management team led by its acting Managing Director, Mr. Fidet Okhiria, reportedly relocated to the Jebba derailment site, with the corporation’s engineers for the assessment of the accident and prompt remedial actions.
It was learnt that the NRC management had commenced investigations into the cause(s) of the accident.
Meanwhile, Okhiria was reported in a statement by Akinwoye to have sympathised with families of the deceased and injured victims.
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