Cargo train travelling to Kano from Lagos, falls off rail in Osogbo (photos)

The Cargo train which took off from Lagos for Kano, reportedly got to Osogbo terminus around 1:30 a.m this morning,

However, after it got to Dagbolu, an outskirt town in Osogbo at about 2:30a.m, tragedy struck as about three coaches attached to the end of the passenger train, got detached from the rest of the coaches.

According to the Punch, eyewitnesses alleged that the three coaches started moving backwards, until they got to the interchange at the terminus around Old Garage area in Osogbo, where the 

wheels got off the track and the three coaches fell on their sides.

Here's what Rasheed told the Punch correspondent;

"We gathered that the train left Lagos for Kano. It got to Osogbo around 1:30 a.m. and continued with the journey shortly after that.

"The three coaches carrying goods got detached from the train and started reversing from Dagbolu area until they came back to Old Garage. The reverse would have continued but the coaches derailed when they got to the interchange and fell down.

"There was no loss of life or damage to vehicles while the coaches were moving backward because the accident happened at night. It may have recorded some casualties, especially at level crossings if the accident had happened in the day time. But we thank God." 

He went to disclose that a man who brought his car to steal goods in the cargo coaches that derailed, was arrested by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) policemen. NSCDC officers were then deployed to the scene of the incident to safeguard the goods in the coaches.

However, there's been no official statement from the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

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Photo credit: Y. Teslim