March 29, (THEWILL) – Some family members of passengers aboard the Kaduna-bound train attacked on Monday, say they are yet to know the fate of their relatives.
Speaking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), at the Rigasa Railway station in Kaduna on Tuesday, they said they were yet to establish contact, 14 hours after the tragic incident.
They, therefore, appealed to the state government to come to their aid to relieve them of the apprehension they were passing through.
A resident of Ungwan Rimi area of Kaduna, Mohammed Barau, said he was at the train station to have an update regarding the incident, adding that his younger brother was in the ill-fated train.
“We called his line several times without response, until later, his friend seated with him in the train picked and told us that my brother left his phone on the seat, and that he did not know his whereabout. When we later tried to call again, the phone was switched off, and when we called the friend, he was not picking”, Barau said.
He urged the government to come up with a comprehensive list that would give the public a sense of relief.
“By now, the government should have released a comprehensive list of people killed, those injured, as well as the number of people evacuated. At least, when this is done, it would give us some peace of mind, but we have not heard anything yet”, he queried.
Also, Miss Lami Gombo, a resident of Kudenden, in Kaduna, said she was yet to hear from her brother, who was on board the train.
“His telephone lines are switched off; we have been to the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, but did not see him there. The development is worrisome; the entire family is confused as to whether our brother is still alive, dead, or had been kidnaped”, she said.
A staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, who was also in the ill-fated train, said some of the passengers had fled into the bush for safety when the incident occurred.
“Nobody can ascertain whether passengers were kidnaped or not, but the pandemonium must have caused a lot of people to run into the bush to safeguard their lives”, said the staff, who did not want his name mentioned.
THEWILL reports that the Kaduna-bound train with an unspecified number of passengers on board was on Monday night attacked by terrorists.
The attack came a few days after the terrorists attacked the Kaduna International Airport, where an aircraft was prevented from taking off.
The 6pm train, which took off from Idu Train Station at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), reportedly hit explosive device about 30 minutes to Rigasa train station in Kaduna.
The gunmen were said to have blown up the rail track, forcing the 1000-capacity train to derail around Rijana, a village on the rail corridor in Kaduna.
Kaduna State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Internal Security, Samuel Aruwan, on Tuesday, said the train had been secured by military personnel, and that government had evacuated passenger on board the train.
He said staff of Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (KADSEMA) and Nigeria Red Cross, Kaduna chapter, conducted the evacuation.
