A mass transit shuttle train derailed at the Ashade railway crossing in the Mangoro area of Lagos State on Thursday, killing one person and injuring many others.
It was gathered that the accident occurred around 7am, and it involved three coaches on a train en route Ebute Meta, Lagos, from Ijoko in Ogun State.
The Lagos Railway District Manager, Jerry Ochi, confirmed that the victim died at the NRC hospital in Ebute Meta while receiving treatment.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement that investigation showed that the train derailed as a result of faulty tracks.
The agency explained that the faulty tracks had been reported by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority in the area and were noted for pending engineering works later in the day.
It said the injured victims were rushed to nearby hospitals for first aid.
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“The GM LASEMA, LRT, LRU Paramedics, LRU Fire, LASAMBUS, FRSC, RRS, LASTMA and the Nigeria Police are on ground to ensure a swift recovery. Recovery operation is ongoing by the officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.”
However, the Public Relations Officer, NRC, Lagos, Khadijat Aroyewun, noted that the cause of the accident had yet to be ascertained, adding that preventive measures would be taken to prevent future occurrences.
She said, “This is just a one-off incident, which is rather unfortunate. The cause of the accident has not been ascertained; investigation will be carried out to ascertain the cause.
“However, the culture in the NRC is not only remedial but also preventive. What we do is that our technical experts ensure that the tracks are viable for movement before the trains are permitted to move on them. But when incidents like this occur, we make sure to find out the unforeseen factors that could have caused them and put in place future preventive measures.”
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