New ‘loco,’ first trip, shocking accident take away North-East rail dream

The 15 wagon train was one of the only two new locomotive engines assigned to the North/East zone which was received with joy by the people of the benefiting states. Its last week trip to Ashaka Cement Company near Gombe for haulage of cement commodity to neighboring Bauchi State was the first official assignment by […]

The 15 wagon train was one of the only two new locomotive engines assigned to the North/East zone which was received with joy by the people of the benefiting states. Its last week trip to Ashaka Cement Company near Gombe for haulage of cement commodity to neighboring Bauchi State was the first official assignment by the new locomotive engine since they were taken to the zone, but tragedy struck while it was about to cross over a small bridge, few kilometers away from Gombe railway station.  

A source said the train has 15 couches, but only  14 were loaded with the cement, adding that the train was loaded with 490 tonnes of cement product, as each of the couch was carrying 35 tons of the loaded  materials skipped off track in Malam Inna village, behind Gombe State University.

The source added, “the train with 14 wagons has the capacity to convey 546 tons but was loaded with only 490 tonnes of cement, which is equivalent to 980 bags of cement, as each wagon was carrying 700 bags”.

The journey from Ashaka Cement Company factory to the spot where the accident took place was smooth, but the new locomotive began to experience some problems when it reached the portion of the rotten railway track line which could not bear the weight of the product on haulage. This led to the accident.

The source added that before the new locomotive engine set for the haulage trip to Ashaka from Bauchi, the rail track line maintenance unit  had given a signal assuring the Railway Division Headquarters in Jos, Plateau State that the rail  track line was in perfect condition for the proposed haulage.

It stated that “the officer-in-charge of track lines in Bauchi gave the signal that the rail tracks were okay for movement, and the new locomotive embarked upon the journey to Ashaka Cement Company without a hitch, but while coming back with load the problem erupted”.

An eyewitness who identified himself as Safiyanu, said he was going to the neighbourhood when he heard a frightening sound that forced him to take to his heels, but on turning back, he saw a locomotive engine with a chain of wagons veer off its track while crossing a small bridge and fell by the side of a small valley.

There was a cloud of dust that made it difficult for the people around to see clearly what had taken place.  Safayanu said, at the beginning, he thought it was a passenger train that was involved in the accident. But when the dust settled and the atmosphere became clearer, he realized the train was not carrying passengers but some cement commodity.

Safayanu said, “my compound is close to the scene of the accident. I heard the frightening sound while I was strolling out to the neighbourhood. The sound made me to take to my heels, but only to realize it was a train which had just passed that had an accident. I could not reach the scene because the place was clouded in dust, like smoke”.  

Four people, the driver, his assistant and two officers on training were the only people on board, and they were all rescued unhurt, with the exception of the driver who sustained some minor injuries. He was treated and discharged at one of the hospitals.

The last time the North-East rail track was renovated was in 1998 when a general refurbishment was carried out throughout the country. Also, the last time train was seen on the rail track was in 2009 when LSB wagon was used in conveying some pipes for a water project in Borno State. Since then train traffic ceased, until the last one that had an accident.

Sunday Trust gathered that a committee was set up from Abuja in connection with the accident to investigate the remote cause of the accident and, at the time of going to press, another source added that a separate committee was on its way to Gombe from Lagos to further investigate the cause of the accident, with the aim of bringing those found wanting in discharging their duties to book.  

When our correspondent visited the Gombe railway station, it was a ghost of its former self as there was nobody, except a few staff of the corporation and some abandoned wagons which were said to have been used by the Chinese firm that carried out the last rail track renovation work in 1998.

No official of the railway station agreed to comment on the accident.