Train derails injuring six, more feared dead

By LONAH KIBET

NAIROBI, KENYA: Six people were seriously injured while others are feared dead after a cargo train derailed in Nairobi’s Kibera slums.

The injured were rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure Michael Kamau said the train was ferrying 1,000 tonnes of wheat from Mombasa to Uganda when it derailed at Laini Saba in Kibera on Sunday morning due to the instability of the railway line.

“The ground was wet; any train carrying heavy cargo could trip leading to derailment. In this case, two wagons and the locomotive derailed,” said Eng Kamau.

He said the Government is spending Sh7.2 billion to relocate residents to avoid such incidences.

The train, which lost course, crashed into several iron sheet structures and business premises near the railway line. Those feared trapped beneath the wagons are believed to have been selling clothes and food.

Residents said they heard a sound of a moving train at around 9am, followed by a loud bang.

Henry Omukubi, who lives in Highrise but operates a printing shop in Laini Saba, said when he heard a bang and screams, he rushed to see what had happened.

“I was with other people. When we got there, we saw that the train had landed on some houses. We started the rescue mission. We first came across a father and his child and later we found another man. They were immediately rushed to hospital,” said Omukubi.

Sammy Baya, who works with a state agency, said he uses that route every morning while going to work.

“Chances are that there are people who were standing by when the train was approaching and given how the houses are constructed, there was no place to escape to,” he said.

The rescue mission was hampered by the damaged rails preventing a crane from approaching the site to remove the wagons.

“We are also expecting a crane with repair equipment on site,” said Kamau. Senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko, Langata MP Joash Odhiambo and Kibra MP Ken Okoth visited the site yesterday and called for relocation of residents.

alternative Land

“It is an accident; blame games should not arise at this point. We need to find a permanent solution to the problem,” said Sonko.

While supporting the Government’s initiative of expanding and improving the country’s railway infrastructure, he said the people who live near the areas should be considered before any displacement is done.

Mr Odhiambo assured that the residents will be given alternative places to stay and run their businesses, which will be far from the railway line.  

Despite the accident, residents were yesterday still reluctant to move their houses, saying they had not been given alternative land.