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•“ We thought it ran out of fuel, it shook and we almost fell”

•NRC shuts down Abuja-Kaduna Train station

A Kaduna-Abuja bound train reportedly derailed while approaching the Kubwa station in Abuja on Friday.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, in a statement signed by the Director, Operations for Management, Niyi Alli, stated that there was no recorded casualty as the passengers have been taken to safety.

He said that the NRC rescue crew has been deployed to re-rail the rolling stock and repair the track, announcing that the Abuja Kaduna Train Service has been temporarily suspended.

He said: “The Board and Management of Nigerian Railway Corporation regrets to inform the general public particularly our passengers of AK3 and KA4 of today 27th January 2023 that the disruption experienced on our Abuja Kaduna Train Service was as a result of the derailment of KA4 at Kubwa station.

“There was no casualty recorded. We sincerely apologise to passengers whose planned trips were affected by this incident.

“The NRC rescue team has mobilized to site to re-rail the rolling stock and repair the track. Consequently, the Abuja Kaduna Train Service is temporarily suspended. A passenger in the train, Fatima Mukhtar in an audio message, said she was in the train when the incident happened.

She said they boarded the train from the Rigasa station Kaduna on Friday and the journey commenced at about 1.30 pm and expected to reach Kubwa in Abuja at about 3.17 pm.

She said the journey started well until when it was about 2 to 3 minutes for them to reach the Kubwa station when an announcement was made inside the train.

“They announced that passengers for Kubwa station should prepare their luggage and be ready to disembark. There are two stations, Kubwa and Idu.We stood up with our luggage and even moved closer to the exit points, then we heard a noise as if the train was brought to an abrupt stop.

“We thought the train was about to stop, not knowing that it had derailed. In the train there were elderly persons in their sixties, those in their thirties  and children and youth. When the train stopped abruptly, it shook and we were about to fall but we held on to the seats.”

“Some of us even thought the train ran out of fuel. But after some minutes,they were saying we cannot open the doors and go out because the train developed a fault. Inside the train later became so humid and we were worried. Until they later open the doors to let air flow.

We were then told that it was the train engine that derailed.”

“It was a difficult terrain with lots of stones, so disembarking was quite difficult. Some passengers were able to jump, but others were assisted to come down when they provided a chair. We used it to step down. We later trekked along the rail track full of stones, with our luggage which was quite stressful. The old, the young, all of us passengers trekked to the station. It was tiring. The stones made it difficult.

“That was how we got to the Kubwa station. Imagine there are passengers waiting to take off from Idu Station for Kaduna this evening, and it may not be possible for them to travel.

That was how we got to the station, met our waiting vehicle and reached home,” she said.