Train Passengers Enroute Port Harcourt From Kano Narrowly Escape Death

Passengers travelling by train from Kano to Port Harcourt on Thursday evening narrowly escaped death as a cement producing company truck loaded with bags of cement while passing an illegal crossing point caused the rail line to shift from its normal position on the approach of the train.

The incident occurred along Mungedi, a highly populated suburb in Madobi local government area of Kano state at 4:16 p.m., sixteen minutes after takeoff of the train from the Kano terminal.

Villagers who noticed the ugly development and helplessly watch the Dangote driver as he ran away abandoning the vehicle made concerted effort to flag down the train, which was on speed.

The driver of the train identified as Garba Garba who responded to the villagers’ wave of hand and managed to drive the train to a halt confessed “it would have been too dangerous for the entire passengers, the crew, the coaches and the surrounding houses if the train had derailed because of the shift.”

An eye witness, Suleiman Abubakar, said “the shift on the rail line occurred because the truck and the load were too big for the small route passing over the rail line,” adding “that the truck also kept on trusting back and front while on the rail track because of a turn it wanted to negotiate by the side the rail line.”

A team of policemen were promptly mobilized and drafted by the Railway authority to the sight of the incident to keep vigil on the Dangote truck whose driver had escaped for possible arrest and also to control the surging population from the nearby settlements on hearing the news.