Death toll rises to five, 40 injured in Warri-Itakpe train crash
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The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr. Kayode Opeifa, said the death toll from the Warri-Itakpe train accident has risen to five.
He also said 40 people on board sustained varying degrees of injury.
The fatalities and injuries were recorded on Monday when coaches of the Warri-Itakpe train capsized near Agbor in Delta State on Monday.
According to Opeifa, some of the passengers have been sent for X-rays and surgery.
He also hinted that the Corporation will conduct a track safety audit as part of the investigation to ascertain the cause of the accident and forestall future occurrences.
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He said: “It was an unfortunate situation, and unfortunately, we lost five of our dear customers, Nigerians. The figure is five as of last night, and there has not been any addition to that up to now.
“We have about 40 injured, out of these, there were 25 serious injuries, considering the nature of the accident. Out of these 25, we have seen those who are in the hospital, and some of them have been discharged.
“Some of them have been sent for X-ray and some for surgery. That is the situation of the injured and deceased; those are the facts.
“482 people were on board, 442 of them were passengers and another 40 were crew, third-party contractors like the caterers and the cleaners”.
He also noted that all those on board have been accounted for, adding that contact tracing of all passengers will be conducted within the next 72 hours.
He said: “Of note is that all people on board were accounted for, and contract tracing has begun, and within the next 72 hours, we will have contacted everybody on the manifest. The manifest was received two hours after the incident.
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“Our system has everybody who bought tickets online; they are traceable. We have the phone number from when they bought the ticket. So, we are doing everything possible to make sure that we manage this situation in the best way possible”.
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Addressing concerns over recurring rail accidents, Opeifa acknowledged public frustration and announced plans for a wider safety audit.
He said: “This is one accident too many, and all we have to do is to do what we have planned on ground and do more than that. Also, if necessary, we will conduct a complete track safety audit on all our tracks.
“You will notice that many of these incidents are happening on two major routes. The Abuja-Kaduna train service and the Warri-Itakpe train service. So we will continue to do our best to bring it down.
“The important thing is to make sure we are operating within standard operating procedures. And the maintenance and servicing operations are done within the rules. And to make sure that we continue to train and retrain staff, and make sure that whatever is necessary to be done is done. Life is sacred, and there shouldn’t be accidents at all. And if there are accidents, they should be manageable accidents”.
The NSIB has also disclosed that the investigation into the train derailment has progressed with the retrieval of critical evidence and the completion of key on-site investigative activities.
