At Least 70 Die In Train Derailment In Cameroon; Hundreds Injured

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The death toll is rising at the site of a train derailment in Cameroon, with President Paul Biya saying the crash of the crowded car Friday killed more than 70 people and wounded 600 more. The train was packed with people because rains had washed out a frequently used road Thursday.

"My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the #CAMRAIL train derailment in #Eseka," Biya wrote on his Facebook page Saturday.

The derailment occurred around midday Friday on the line that connects Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, to the country's largest city, Douala. Travelers had crowded onto the train because a section of the main road between the two cities had collapsed.

Hours before the crash, the train station in Douala was "mobbed" with people trying to make the trip to the capital, according to local website Karawa's Diary.

As emergency crews and members of the public sought to help victims of the crash in Eseka, some 30 miles away, crews worked through the night to repair the collapsed portion of the road near Matomb — and by midday Saturday, the road was reopened to at least partial use, broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television reports.

The cause of the derailment is still under investigation; the privatized train line is operated by Camrail, a French-owned company that's responsible for maintaining the tracks and bridges used by the train.</s>ESEKA, Cameroon — The death toll from an overloaded train that derailed in Cameroon has risen, rescue workers and hospital staff said Saturday, estimating that at least 73 people had been killed.

Bodies were strewn along the tracks as workers continued looking for others injured and dead in Friday's crash.

Officials have put the death toll at 53 but said it will climb as they raced to transport more than 600 injured people to hospitals in the capital, Yaounde, and the port city where the train was going, Douala.

The rescue workers and medical staff spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the press about the issue.

The train carried about 1,300 passengers, instead of its capacity of 600. The passenger load was higher because a road had collapsed due to landslides following heavy rains between Yaounde and Douala.

The 30-year-old railway line and train could not carry the load, officials told state radio.

President Paul Biya ordered the evacuation of the injured to the country's two main cities because Eseka's hospital was overwhelmed, with only about 60 beds, said transport minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o.

"I am calling on everyone to double efforts to save the lives of the injured," Ngo'o said.

One of those injured died as he arrived in Douala, and "we are doing everything possible to save the lives of the close to 200 victims sent to Douala," said Governor Ivaha Diboua Dieudonne of the western Littoral region.

The circumstances that led to the accident will be investigated, government spokesman Issa Tchiroma said.</s>ESEKA, Cameroon (AP) — The death toll from an overloaded train that derailed in Cameroon has risen, rescue workers and hospital staff said Saturday, estimating that at least 73 people had been killed.

Bodies were strewn along the tracks as workers continued looking for others injured and dead in Friday’s crash.

Officials have put the death toll at 53 but said it will climb as they raced to transport more than 600 injured people to hospitals in the capital, Yaounde, and the port city where the train was going, Douala.

The rescue workers and medical staff spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the press about the issue.

The train carried about 1,300 passengers, instead of its capacity of 600. The passenger load was higher because a road had collapsed due to landslides following heavy rains between Yaounde and Douala.

The 30-year-old railway line and train could not carry the load, officials told state radio.

President Paul Biya ordered the evacuation of the injured to the country’s two main cities because Eseka’s hospital was overwhelmed, with only about 60 beds, said transport minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o.

“I am calling on everyone to double efforts to save the lives of the injured,” Ngo’o said.

One of those injured died as he arrived in Douala, and “we are doing everything possible to save the lives of the close to 200 victims sent to Douala,” said Governor Ivaha Diboua Dieudonne of the western Littoral region.

The circumstances that led to the accident will be investigated, government spokesman Issa Tchiroma said.</s>ESEKA, Cameroon — The death toll from an overloaded train that derailed in Cameroon has risen, rescue workers and hospital staff said Saturday, estimating that at least 73 people had been killed.

Bodies were strewn along the tracks as workers continued looking for others injured and dead in Friday's crash.

Officials have put the death toll at 53 but said it will climb as they raced to transport more than 600 injured people to hospitals in the capital, Yaounde, and the port city where the train was going, Douala.

The rescue workers and medical staff spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the press about the issue.

The train carried about 1,300 passengers, instead of its capacity of 600. The passenger load was higher because a road had collapsed due to landslides following heavy rains between Yaounde and Douala.

The 30-year-old railway line and train could not carry the load, officials told state radio.

President Paul Biya ordered the evacuation of the injured to the country's two main cities because Eseka's hospital was overwhelmed, with only about 60 beds, said transport minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o.

"I am calling on everyone to double efforts to save the lives of the injured," Ngo'o said.

One of those injured died as he arrived in Douala, and "we are doing everything possible to save the lives of the close to 200 victims sent to Douala," said Governor Ivaha Diboua Dieudonne of the western Littoral region.

The circumstances that led to the accident will be investigated, government spokesman Issa Tchiroma said.</s>The packed Camrail train had been traveling from the capital Yaounde to the port city of Douala. It was derailed at around 11 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) near the station in the town of Eseka, 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital, causing carriages to overturn.

"My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the Camrail train derailment in Eseka. Over 70 passengers died and 600 wounded in the accident," President Paul Biya, who is traveling abroad, wrote on his official Facebook page.

"I instructed the government to provide full assistance to the survivors, while investigations will be made to determine the cause of the derailment."

Witnesses, including a Reuters reporter traveling on the train, said rail workers had added additional carriages to accommodate extra passengers before its departure, though it is not clear if that decision contributed to the accident.

In a statement from Camrail, a unit of French industrial group Bollore, the company said it was working with Cameroonian authorities to ensure care for those injured and support for the families of victims.

"Technical investigations are under way currently to determine the causes of this dreadful accident and the conclusions, as soon as they are known, will be communicated," the emailed statement said.

Work began during the night to remove the derailed wagons from the line - one of the main routes for goods and passengers between the main port and the interior.

"The train with wounded and the bodies of victims has arrived at Yaounde station in the presence of government and Camrail officials," Camrail posted on its official Facebook page earlier on Saturday.

A Bollore official based in the region, who was not authorized to speak with the press and asked not to be named, said the company was cooperating with authorities examining the crash.

"Camrail has made the train's conductor and its mechanic available to the judicial police, because in these kinds of circumstances that is the procedure. That will allow for an understanding of what happened," the official said.

He added that traffic along the Yaounde to Douala line, which was halted following the crash, was expected to resume soon and engineers were at the site of the accident to evaluate the damage.

The collapse of a section of the main highway between Yaounde and Douala amid heavy rain earlier on Friday had blocked hundreds of vehicles on the road and prompted increased numbers of passengers to make the journey by rail.

The two incidents on the same day cut the main transport axis in the central African nation of over 22 million people. (Additional reporting by Anne Mireille Nzouankeu in Yaounde; Additional reporting and writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Andrew Roche)
The death toll from the October 21 crash of a Camrail train rises to at least 73 people with another 600 wounded.