Deadly train crash hits Cameroon

[John Ashworth]

Deadly train crash hits Cameroon

Page last updated at 22:42 GMT, Saturday, 29 August 2009 23:42 UK
BBC

At least five people have been killed and more than 275 others injured in a train crash near Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.

Officials said that a passenger train carrying about 1,000 people derailed north of the city.

Rescuers are searching for survivors and say the death toll could rise.

On Friday a fuel train derailed south of Yaounde, killing at least one person and starting a blaze that took four hours to put out.

"These two days have been very unfortunate for our national railway carrier," said Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

He said the passenger train had come from the northern town of Ngaoundere.

In Friday's incident, 11 wagons carrying diesel fuel and petrol were destroyed in the blaze.

The government has set up inquiries into both incidents, national media reported.


Deaths in Cameroon train crash

Al Jazeera
Sunday, August 30, 2009
07:42 Mecca time, 04:42 GMT

At least seven people have been killed and more than 270 injured in a train accident in the West African nation of Cameroon, state radio has reported.

The train derailed just outside the capital Yaounde on Saturday.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon's communications minister, said the death toll could change as some of the carriages had ended up in ravines by the track and rescuers were searching for survivors or bodies.

"Only when the inquiry put in place by ordered by the prime minister, head of government, and by the railway manager, only when these inquiries are completed, then we will give you the reason why this accident took place and the number of casualties," he said.

Officials said the train was carrying more than 1,000 passengers.

A day earlier, a train carrying gas and petrol derailed and burst into flames, killing at least one person.

The government has set up inquiries into the two accidents and vowed to pay the medical costs for the injured.

French industrial giant Bollore has a contract to operate Cameroon's national railway until 2020 and has plans for a $300 million upgrade for the country's railway and rolling stock.


Cameroon train crash kills 7, hundreds hurt

29 Aug 2009 19:42:32 GMT
Source: Reuters

YAOUNDE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Seven people died and hundreds more were injured in a passenger train crash near Cameroon's capital on Saturday, state radio said, a day after a train carrying gas derailed and burst into flames, killing two.

"These two days have been very unfortunate for our national railway carrier," Cameroonian government spokesman Issa Tchiroma told reporters on Saturday.

"The information we have so far is that five people have died and over 275 others who sustained serious injuries have been admitted in various hospitals," Tchiroma said of Saturday's crash, which took place just north of Yaounde.

State radio later said the toll had risen to seven.

A train ferrying 13 wagons full of gas derailed on Friday to the south of the capital, bursting into flames and killing two people.

There was no immediate explanation for either of the crashes but the government has set up enquiries and vowed to pay the medical costs for all those hurt.

French industrial giant Bollore has a contract to operate Cameroon's national railway until 2020 and has plans for a $300 million upgrade for the country's railway and rolling stock. (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Editing by David Lewis)