Many Trapped, Others Injured As Train Derails In Lagos
Several people were injured on Thursday morning when a train derailed at the Mangoro/ Agege area of Lagos State.
The incident occurred when one of the train coaches reportedly fell off the rail track while in motion, causing another coach to derail.
This caused tension among passengers on the train who struggled to escape through the windows of the affected coaches.
The train was said to be coming from Ijoko area of Ogun State and heading to Ebute Metta in Lagos before the incident happened.
Responding, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said there was no major casualty from the train that derailed this morning in the Agege area of the state.
According to the General Manager of LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu, no life was lost when three coaches from the train derailed.
He, however, explained that several persons were injured and some of those with injuries fled for fear of being arrested for hanging on the coaches.
“I understand the train was coming from the Ijoko axis, heading for Lagos. Unfortunately, the last three coaches at the back derailed throwing people hanging, some of them on the body and roof off balance.
“Well, nobody died, that I can tell you. Casualty figures I cannot give, because we didn’t meet anybody on the ground here. Only that people who were here said there were people perching on the train, some were hanging by the side and they must have been injured,” he stated.
The LASEMA boss explained that the situation was brought under control following the prompt intervention of his officials, assisted by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Nigeria Police.
He added, “The situation of things is that we have brought normalcy here. We have moved people away from the incident scene. LASEMA team are here, Red Cross, Road Safety, and of course the Nigeria Police. Now what we are waiting for is the Nigeria Railway Corporation to bring in their crane to begin to lift up the three fallen coaches off the scene so that we can restore normalcy back to the track here.”
The train moving enroute Ebute Metta via Oshodi from Iju with full capacity passengers.