Kaduna Train Attack: Whereabouts Of 21 Passengers Still Unknown, Says NRC

The Nigerian Railway Corporation on Sunday said that the whereabouts of 21 passengers aboard the Abuja-Kaduna train that was attacked by terrorists last Monday are still unknown.

It, however, said that 170 passengers out of those that boarded the train are currently safe.

The Managing Director of NRC, Mr Fidet Okhiria, said this in a statement issued on Sunday.

The statement was an update on the incident, which occurred on March 28, at the Kateri-Rijana area of Kaduna State.

Terrorists had derailed the train en-route to Kaduna from Abuja on Monday night after it detonated an explosive along the Kateri-Rijana general area of the state.

The train with about 326 passengers was attacked and no fewer than eight people have been confirmed dead and 26 injured, the Kaduna Government had disclosed in a statement on Tuesday.

Notable among those that were injured are Muhammad Amin Mahmood, a Youth leader aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) party; the former Deputy Governor, Zamfara Ibrahim Wakkala and Katsina Commissioner for Health, Nuhu Danja.

Unfortunately, Dr Chinelo Megafu a young dentist alongside seven others are among those that have been confirmed dead by the Kaduna Government, as of press time.

Giving an update on the incident, the NRC MD said that seven coaches have been recovered while the Corporation had intensified efforts towards restoration of the services.

Okhiria said that the corporation in collaboration with security agencies would leave no stone unturned in its efforts at rescuing the missing persons.

The statement said, “From the last release, we confirmed that four Coaches (SP 00004, SP00009, SP00012 and SP00013) out of the 11 Coaches involved in the incident have been re-railed and safely moved to Rigasa Station while work is ongoing on track repairs.

“We did also stated that 170 of the passengers onboard the train are safe while 21 other passengers are reported missing.

“At the end of work on Saturday evening (02/04/2022) the NRC’s restoration team has further rerailed four more Coaches and two of the coaches (SP 00007 and SP 00013) had been safely moved to Idu and Rigasa Stations respectively.

“However, efforts are on to link the track, at the moment, a total of 80 meters of the affected section has been fixed including replacement of affected sleepers and twisted rails.”

Okhiria said the Corporation deeply condoles with those who lost loved ones and prays for the repose of their souls.

He added that the management equally sympathised with the injured passengers and indeed everyone on board the AK9 train of Monday 28, for the trauma this unfortunate incident had caused them and their families.

ENDS