Train heading to Kano goes off track in Osogbo

dimeji akinloye

March 4, 2017 12:16 PM

Three cargo coaches attached to the end of the passenger train were said to have suddenly detached from the rest of the coaches.

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According to Punch, the train, which reportedly took off from Lagos, got to the Osogbo terminus around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday and continued its smooth journey until it got to Dagbolu, an outskirt town in Osogbo.

It was gathered at about 2:30a.m, three cargo coaches attached to the end of the passenger train got detached from the rest of the coaches.

The three coaches started moving backwards until they got to the interchange at the terminus around Old Garage area in Osogbo where the wheels got off the track and the three coaches fell on their sides, the report said.

A resident identified as Rasheed told the newspaper that no life was lost in the accident, adding that a man who brought a vehicle and started offloading the goods was arrested and detained by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) policemen.

Rasheed said: "We gathered that the train left Lagos for Kano. It got to Osogbo around 1:30 a.m. and continued with the journey shortly after that.

"The three coaches carrying goods got detached from the train and started reversing from Dagbolu area until they came back to Old Garage. The reverse would have continued but the coaches derailed when they got to the interchange and fell down.

"There was no loss of life or damage to vehicles while the coaches were moving backward because the accident happened at night. It may have recorded some casualties, especially at level crossings if the accident had happened in the day time. But we thank God."

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Officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were reportedly deployed at the scene to prevent the goods from being looted.

No official comment from the NRC as at the time of filing this report.

dimeji akinloye