Abuja-Kaduna train derails two months after resuming operations

A train bound for Abuja from Kaduna derailed in the Nigerian capital on Friday.

However, no one was killed in the accident, a railway official at the scene, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak on the matter, told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday evening.

He explained that the incident happened at about 3:15 p.m., about the time the train should arrive at its destination.

“The accident happened near the station. There were no casualties and all (passengers) were able to disembark,” he said.

Explaining how the accident happened, the official said: “At that moment, when the train was approaching the point where it was going to turn, the train derailed from the track.”

He said the cause of the crash has not been determined.

There will be no more train travel on the tracks until the derailed train is evacuated, he said.

Another official at the facility who was on board at the time of the crash confirmed that “There are no people (passengers) here anymore. There are no casualties and no one is in the hospital.”

The accident occurred less than two months after the Abuja-Kaduna train resumed operations.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that on March 28, 2022, the Nigerian Railway Company suspended train operations due to attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train that kidnapped more than 60 people and killed eight people.

It was later continued operation eight months after the incident, on December 5, 2022, after the abductees were released.

Thousands of people use the Abuja-Kaduna train every day to commute from the Nigerian capital to the neighboring state of Kaduna.

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