Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Train Derails, Overturns in Cameroon; Scores Injured

by VOA News

   WASHINGTON --

   A crowded passenger train traveling from the capital to Cameroon's
   economic hub, Douala, derailed and overturned Friday, injuring scores
   of people and possibly claiming a number of lives.

   Transportation Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o said the accident caused
   "substantial human and material damage," but that he did not have
   precise casualty estimates.

   Witnesses said they saw victims' bodies being pulled from the wreckage,
   but there was no clear number of casualties. Large numbers of injured
   passengers were taken to hospitals.

   A Reuters journalist who was a passenger on the train said he heard a
   loud noise before coaches in the rear part of the train "left the rails
   and started rolling over and over."

   The morning train from the capital, Yaounde, to Douala normally has
   nine passenger cars. Reuters said an additional eight coaches were
   attached Friday to accommodate extra passengers because part of the
   road between the two cities was blocked by landslides and a washed-out
   bridge.

   The Associated Press said the train normally carries about 600
   passengers, but 1,300 were traveling Friday to Douala, on the Gulf of
   Guinea. The train left the tracks near the town of Eseka, about 120
   kilometers from Yaounde.

   The Cameroonian rail company Camrail, which is operated by France's
   Bollore Railways, confirmed there were many injuries but said, "We
   cannot give even a provisional toll" from the accident.