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Speaker 1: Nigerian Railway Corporation NRC says it has directed the third

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party ticketing company to refund the money paid by all

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five hundred and eighty three passengers on board the Abuja

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Kaduna train that derailed at Asham community in Kaduna State

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on Tuesday, saying although no death casualty was recorded, but

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four out of the seven persons that sustained injuries were serious,

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while two of them were discharged immediately at the hospital. NRC,

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in a statement on Tuesday, said, following the derailment of

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the Kaduna band Abuja Kaduna train service earlier today at

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ashm Kaduna State, the Nigerian Railway Corporation NRC wishes to

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provide an update on the situation. A total of six

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hundred and eighteen persons comprising five hundred and eighty three passengers,

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fifteen NRC crew members, one medical personnel, eight cleaners and

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eleven catering staff were successfully evacuated from the train. Out

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of this number, seven passengers sustained varying degrees of injury

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and were immediately transported by ambulances to hospital facilities by

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medical personnel mobilized to the site the remaining passengers were

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conveyed safely back to Ridhu and Kubwa stations aboard a

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rescue train dispatched from Idu for that purpose. All have

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since returned safely to their destinations. In line with our

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commitment to passenger welfare, our third party ticketing company has

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been directed to immediately issue refunds to all passengers on

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board the affected service. Furthermore, the process of investigation into

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the incident has commenced under the supervision of relevant authorities

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and the Federal Ministry of Transportation. Meanwhile, all Abuja Kaduna

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Train Services aktes have been temporarily suspended pending recovery of

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the site, further clearance and official announcement of service resumption.

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We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and thank our esteem

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passengers and the general public for their understanding, the Nigerian

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Railway Corporation NRC stated in a press release signed by

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its Managing Director, Kiyode Opeifa. NRC had earlier, in a

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statement on Tuesday, said that the train derailed around eleven

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a m at Asham community in Kaduna State. Videos made

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available online by victims of the train accident indicated that

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some of the train coaches overturned as passengers and crew

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members on board stood at the hilling part of the

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bush waiting for rescue. Close observers said that the latest

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train accident adds to the troubled history of the Kaduna

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Abuja rail line, which has experienced several incidents in recent years,

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including the deadly bandits attack in March twenty twenty two

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that led to the killing of some of the passengers

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on board the train, with many of them also kidnapped

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and held hostage for months till ransom was paid. The

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latest derailment comes just a week after the Nigerian Railway

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Corporation NRC reported another fault on the same corridor when

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one of the train’s coach wheels developed a hot axle

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near Rigassa station in Kaduna. The NRC explained that the fault,

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caused by excessive heat, was quickly managed and the train

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was returned safely to Kaduna. In a statement issued on

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August twenty first, twenty twenty five, the NRC had said,

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the Nigerian Railway Corporation has confirmed that one of the

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coaches wheel on the Abuja Kaduna Train Service AKTS experienced

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hot axle some kilometers to Rigassa station in Kaduna. The incident,

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which happened on Wednesday evening, is due to hot wheels

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friction as a result of abnormal temperature due to excessive

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heat on the journal housing. However, the situation was immediately

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brought under control and the train marshaled to Kaduna and

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to safety. Consequent upon this incident, the train service will

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experience some capacity issues which may affect some customers booked

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on the business class. Passengers who were booked on the

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affected coach for Thursday have all been contacted through the

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details day provided online. We have also made alternative arrangements

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to accommodate them. The management is working to ensure the

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disruption is minimal and that normal service would resume before

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the afternoon services. We assure all our customers and passengers

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of their safety on our train services, as we are

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determined to continue to provide the best travel experience on

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all our train networks. We apologize and regret all the inconvenience,

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NRC stated in a statement signed and made available by

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Chief Public Relations Officer of the Railway Corporation Callistae Honeymadou

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Hunch newspaper reported on Wednesday that while the Managing Director

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of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Kyode Opeifer, was speaking during

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an appearance on Channels televisions the Morning brief Are pay

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For assured Nigerians that the ongoing investigation into the incident

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would be thorough and transparent. Beyond apologizing to Nigerians, I

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want to state clearly, as the managing director and chief Executive,

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I take full responsibility when it comes to safety. There

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is no room for indifference. Once something like this happens,

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the chief executive must own it and I do, he said.

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The ND said the injuries of four of the Abuja

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Kaduna train passengers were serious. Our paper stated, coming to

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the fatality and the casualties, there was no fatality. We

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thank god that was a near miss, because for this

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kind of accident or incident, you see some level of fatality.

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But we thank God for this and for those who

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were injured. Four are serious and another two or so

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were discharged immediately and we will follow up on those

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that might still be in the hospital. I don’t know

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as of this moment. We’ll follow up. So we’ll also

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follow up with the remaining six hundred and eighteen people

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on the train because of the post traumatic experience. We

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have the full contacts and we’ll do that. He however,

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said that though the incident should not have happened, the

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NRCCENE would ensure that there was no recurrence. I want

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to assure Nigerians that an incident like this is not expected,

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is not prayed for, should not be happening, but where

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it does, it is to bring out the best in us.

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And I assure Nigerians that just as we are doing

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currently on the Warrior Tack Pay which he the analyst

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also mentioned, we shut down the Warrior Tack Pay route

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three weeks ago. I ordered the shutdown for safety reasons

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and if you see the level of work the men

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have been doing on the track, cutting it off and

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replacing it, is to make sure things like this don’t happen,

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he added. Asked whether there was any suspicion around sabotage

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regarding the incident, Jopeifa said it would be premature for

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me to speak on that because that will be undermining

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the authority that is meant to do the investigation. But

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I want to assure Nigerians that our tracks are safe

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from vandals and terrorists. This particular track is being monitored

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by the military. You can see that immediately it the

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derailment happened within five ten minutes. The helicopter was their hovering.

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The Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Army are all

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along this corridor and I think for the record, we’ve

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not had any issue of banditry terrorism attack along that corridor.

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But you can’t wish anything away. The investigation will tell

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us what happened, and I wouldn’t want to comment because

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I’m a party to the investigation. The NRC chief executive

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said that NSIB would have to declare the site opened

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for reconstruction before the corporation would do a safety order

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to determine when services on the route would be reopened.

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The first thing that will happen is that the NSIV

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will determine when the site is open for reconstruction. So

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from the time they tell us that it’s ready for reconstruction,

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I don’t see us spending more than thirty days, so

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it depends on when they declare the site open for reconstruction.

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Opeifa stated the incident occurred on Tuesday along the Kaduna

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corridor shortly after the train left Abuja at about eleven

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a m en route to Kaduna. A passenger on board

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the train described the scene as chaotic, with people scrambling

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to safety. Following the incident, the NRC suspended train operations

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on the Abuja Kaduna route till further notice. Apeifa had,

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while briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, hours after the incident,

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said that some technical staff of the corporation, alongside the

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Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau NSIB and other relevant agencies were

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on the ground at the train derailments site carrying out

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an investigation. He also dismissed claims that the trains were

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not in good condition and said the refund of the

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ticket fees had been initial c heated for all passengers

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on board. In January twenty twenty three, an Abuja Kaduna

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train derailed in the Kugwe area of the Federal Capital

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Territory FCT, a few minutes from its destination Kudwa Possasana.

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Lady bringing you bringie in a mortgagezal Wi