At least
55 people were killed and nearly 300 injured on Friday when a packed
passenger train travelling between Cameroon's two largest cities derailed
and overturned, the transportation minister said.
Speaking
on state radio, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o said the figures represented only a
provisional toll from the accident, which occurred near the train station in
the town of Eseka, around 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital, Yaounde.
The
inter-city passenger train was travelling from Yaounde to the commercial
capital, Douala, when the accident occurred around 11am local time.
"There
was a loud noise. I looked back and the wagons behind us left the rails and
started rolling over and over. There was a lot of smoke," said a Reuters
journalist travelling in a wagon near the front of the train.
He said that, before its departure
from Yaounde, a railway employee said additional wagons had been added to the
train to accommodate extra passengers, though it was unclear if that played a
role in the accident.
The
collapse of a bridge along the main highway between the capital and Douala had
prompted increased numbers of passengers to undertake the journey by rail.
"There
are the bodies of women, children. There are many," said one employee of
Camrail, which is operated by France's Bollore Railways, speaking from the
scene of the accident. He said three of his colleagues were among the victims.
Joel Bineli, a passenger, told
Reuters he saw the dismembered bodies on the tracks at the accident site.
Social
media users posted photos taken at the scene of the accident which showed
several wagons overturned on a slope beside the rail line.
"Rescue
workers arrived and they are pulling bodies from the wagon. I've already
counted around 40 bodies they've removed," said Rachelle Paden, another
passenger.
Camrail
said it had sent teams to the site and victims were being transported to a
local hospital and to Douala. A Bollore spokesman would only confirm that an
accident had occurred.
Many rail
lines in west and central Africa have a reputation for poor maintenance and
failing to respect safety norms. Derailments are relatively common.
We pray
for the survivors for a quick recovery and condolence to the families of the
deceased.
Photos from crash scene.
JMK
