Says no update yet on missing passengers
Extensive recovery of the rolling stock of the ill-fated AK9 train, attacked on Monday, March 28 2022 has been achieved, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Managing Director Engr. Fidet Okhiria has said.
Specifically, the half capsized coach (SP 00003) has been pushed back to standing position while coach (SP 00002) has been re-railed and pushed to Rigasa Station, in Kaduna, bringing the total number of recovered coaches to 12 out of 14. These include; all the 11 coaches of the attacked train and one coach of the rescue train.
These are contained in the seventh update issued on Friday, by Okhiria on the incident said, efforts are on to recover the remaining two coaches and Loco 2809, while intensive and more expansive track repair works has also been achieved at the incident site.
Okhiria gave no clue about any fresh developments regarding those abducted or still missing in the incident, saying that the status regarding the ill-fated passengers remains the same.
“The status of the 362 passengers and 20 Train Crew on board remains the same as at our last update.
In its sixth update issued last Tuesday, NRC had claimed that eight passengers had died in the incident, while a total of 163 passengers are still missing.
Giving a breakdown of the figures of the missing persons, Okhiria on Tuesday, said 46 of those missing, still have their phone numbers (as contained in the manifest) either switched off/ not reachable, since Tuesday, March 29, 2022, while 33 phone numbers are ringing but still no response from the other end, and 62 phone numbers, were non-existent. Twenty-two persons are reported missing by their relatives, and eight are confirmed dead.
But there are indications that one of the abductees Alhaj Alwan Ali-Hassan, who is the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture was released on Thursday.
Ali-Hassan, was according to his abductors released on compassionate ground and “in the spirit of the Ramadan”.
This brings to 171, the total number of passengers who have been declared either missing or dead, since the incident over 13 days ago.
Okhiria however assured that the Corporation will continue to update the general public of latest developments on the sad incident, even as he appreciated the security agencies for their continued efforts in ensuring the rescue of all those involved in the incident.