The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has said of the 362 validated passengers on board of the Abuja-Kaduna train attacked by terrorists on March 28, 2022, 200 of the passengers on the Manifest have been confirmed safe and have rejoined their families.
The Managing Director/CEO of NRC, Engr. F. E.Okhiria, disclosed this in an update on the tragic incident released on Sunday in Abuja, the first in the annals of rail transportation in country.
He said 51 phone numbers on the train manifest are either switched off or not reachable while 35 phone numbers are ringing but no response since Tuesday, March 29 morning after the devastating, bloody attack.
According to him, 60 phone numbers on the manifest when called are declared “non-existent’’ by the telecoms companies.
Persecondnews.com had reported that the terrorists had between 8.00pm and 9.00pm on March 28 bombed the rail track near Rigasa Station, and following the train derailment fired several shots at the coaches, killing eight passengers and abducted several others.
Scores of the passengers were also injured and are being treated at the hospitals.
“In our quest to keep the general public informed with on-going development regarding the clearing of the incident site (recovery of the rolling stock, repairs of the track) and status of passengers that were on-board the AK 9 train of Monday 28th March 2022, the Corporation hereby provide the following updates as at end of work today 3rd April, 2022.
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“Two coaches (SP 00016 and SP 00017) earlier re-railed were safely moved to Rigasa Station. This brings the total number of recovered coaches and safely moved to NRC Stations to 7.
“Of the 362 validated passengers on board the attacked AK9 train service on 28th April 2022, 186 persons on the Manifest are confirmed to be safe and at their various homes (Additional 14 persons confirmed safe today).
“22 persons are reported missing by their relatives. 8persons confirmed dead,’’ Okhiria said in a statement personally signed by him and given to Persecondnews on Monday.
The NRC MD, however, said intensive repair work was ongoing towards resumption of shuttle service on the Abuja-Kaduna route.
“Intensive work continues on track repairs. More concrete Sleepers were moved to site while some section of twisted tracks has been straightened.’’
Okhiria thanked the security agencies for their support since the incident occurred.
“We are very appreciative of the Squadron Commander MOPOL 1 Kaduna’s visit to the accident site today.
The NRC will continue to update the general public of developments to prevent misleading information and falsehood.’’
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