Scores of passengers were injured Monday morning when one of the coaches of an Accra-bound train from Tema derailed at Achimota in Accra.
The accident occurred at 7:40am just when it took off from the Achimota Train Station where it made a stopover to pick some passengers.
Acting Area Manager of the Ghana Railway Company, Abraham Wood, who was aboard the train at the time of the accident said there were about 500 passengers on board.
He said the injured were immediately removed and rushed to the Achimota Hospital for medical attention.
Though he could not tell what caused the accident, he told 3News that few metres after the train moved from the Achimota Station, they started jerking causing the driver to apply the breaks until it came to a halt
“When we came out of the train, we saw that the rear coach had derailed,” he told, told 3News, adding “few people were injured so we took them to the nearest hospital, Achimota Hospital. Asked about the possible cause of the accident, he said “From where I stand, I’m not a technical person so I cannot tell until investigations are over. As of now, we don’t know the cause of the accident and cannot say it is the wooden sleepers”. The train which has four coaches takes up to 616 passengers with each taking a little over 100 passengers.
Meanwhile, Deputy Railways Minister, Kwaku Agyenim Boateng, and a team from his ministry and the Ghana Railway Development Authority have visited the scene to get firsthand information on the accident.
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