By Seyi Babalola
No fewer than 163 passengers and about seven crew members are still missing eight days after the ill-fated Kaduna-bound train was attacked by terrorists on Monday March 28, 2022, the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s (NRC) Managing Director Engr Fidet Okhiria said on Tuesday.
Okhiria who disclosed this in a statement, the sixth update since the incident broke last Tuesday, however said five more persons have been confirmed safe and have been reunited with their families, bringing the total of safe persons on the ill-fated Kaduna bound AK9 train, to 191.
He said a total of 362 passengers were on the night train when the incident happened on last Monday.
Giving a breakdown of the figures of the missing persons, Okhiria on Tuesday, said 46 of those missing, still have their phone numbers (contained in the manifest), switched off, or not reachable, since last Tuesday morning, while 33 phone numbers are ringing but still no response from the other end and 62 phone numbers contained in the manifest have continued to respond non-existent, while 22 persons are reported missing by relatives, and eight are confirmed dead.
This brings to 171, the total number of passengers who have been declared either missing or dead, since the incident broke eight days ago.
Okhiria confirmed that on board the ill-fated train are 20 train crew members, out of which seven are NRC Staff, 10 are janitors and three are caterers.
Of these, five of the NRC staff have been confirmed safe, while two are still missing, one of the janitors have been reported dead, while three are missing and six have been confirmed safe, while only one of the caterers have been confirmed safe, while the remaining two are still missing.
The Corporation managing Director said one more coach (SP00020) have been successfully re-railed and safely moved to Rigasa Station, bringing the total number of recovered coaches to eight, as intensive track repair works continued on site to enable the recovery of the remaining coaches and locomotives.
Okhiria said the corporation remained committed to the rescue and recovery of all passengers on board the ill-fated train service. “NRC remains committed to the safety of her Passengers and Staff on board the ill-fated Ak9 train service. The Corporation will continue to collaborate with security agencies to ensure all persons being held are rescued unhurt and reunited with their families.
Our heart goes out to those who lost loved ones and those injured in the attack and now recuperating from the hospital.”
He expressed the corporation’s appreciation for the support and cooperation received so far from security agencies since the tragic incident, assuring that the corporation will continue to update the general public of developments to prevent misleading information and falsehood.
“We remain appreciative of all the support and cooperation received so far from the security agencies at this challenging times.
“The NRC will continue to update the general public of developments to prevent misleading information and falsehood,” he said.