- Title: Cameroon train crash death toll tops 70
- Date: 22nd October 2016
- Summary: ESEKA, CAMEROON (OCTOBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) TRAIN CARRIAGE ON ITS SIDE VARIOUS OF CRUSHED TRAIN CARRIAGES SOLDIER CROSSING TRACKS WITH DAMAGED CARRIAGE BEHIND CRANE ON THE ROAD / DAMAGED CARRIAGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE THE STATION (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOUAMAR SANI WHO IS LOOKING FOR HIS UNCLE, SAYING: "We searched in vain, there were loads of bodies but we did not find him." (Asked about the number of dead he saw in the morgue) - "I think 200, it will go up to 200." PEOPLE ON A BENCH INSIDE THE TRAIN STATION WOMAN LYING ON BENCH IN TRAIN STATION SIGN READING "ESEKA" EXTERIOR OF TRAIN STATION
- Embargoed: 6th November 2016 17:20
- Keywords: Cameroon derailment Eseka passengers killed
- Location: ESEKA, CAMEROON
- City: ESEKA, CAMEROON
- Country: Cameroon
- Topics: Ground Accidents/Collisions,Disaster/Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA0015536IX3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cameroon's president announced on Saturday (October 22) that more than 70 people had been killed and another 600 injured when a passenger train crashed on Friday.
The packed Camrail train had been travelling from the capital Yaounde to the port city of Douala.
It was derailed at around 11 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) near the station in the town of Eseka, 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital, causing carriages to overturn.
"Over 70 passengers died and 600 wounded in the accident," President Paul Biya, who is travelling abroad, wrote on his official Facebook page.
Witnesses, including a Reuters reporter travelling on the train, said rail workers had added additional carriages to accommodate extra passengers before its departure, though it is not clear if that decision contributed to the accident.
In a statement from Camrail, a unit of French industrial group Bollore, the company said it was working with Cameroonian authorities to ensure care for those injured and support for the families of victims.
Work began during the night to remove the derailed carriages from the line - one of the main routes for goods and passengers between the main port and the interior.
One man, Mouamar Sani, who came to look for his uncle who was on the train, said he had seen piles of bodies in the morgue.
The collapse of a section of the main highway between Yaounde and Douala amid heavy rain earlier on Friday had blocked hundreds of vehicles on the road and prompted increased numbers of passengers to make the journey by rail.
The two incidents on the same day cut the main transport axis in the country. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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