Apress statement issued yesterday 23 May, 2017 by the Minister, Secretary-General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, not only makes public the results of government findings following the tragic train accident on 21 October, 2016 but equally announces measures taken by the Head of State to avoid such unfortunate occurrences. Findings of the Commission have pointed out that CAMRAIL takes full responsibility for the accident and this followed expert analyses and interviews meticulously conducted with several officials and victims of the accident. The creation of the Commission of enquiry on 25 October, 2016 soon after the accident occurred and placed under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Philemon Yang clearly indicated the seriousness with which the Head of State took the incident and how far he was ready to go in finding solutions. Consequently, the job description of the Commission was unequivocal and the diligence with which the work was carried out was already perceptible as the deadline of 30 days prescribed by the Head of State for the investigations to take place was met and the conclusions being made public now show how determined Mr Biya is to ensure that government actions in the railway transport sector should be decisive to spare Cameroonians from such a tragedy again. Apart from instructing that the sum of FCFA one billion be disbursed as compensation to victims of the train accident, the Head of State equally wants greater State involvement in the management of the railway company, the erection of a monument at Eseka in honour of those who lost their lives in the accident and so on.
The Eseka train derailment, described by many as the worst in the history of Cameroon railway transport saw over 70 people killed and several others out of the about 1,500 on board the train number 152 of CAMRAIL wounded. It also followed a road incident that saw the collapse of the bridge at Manyai linking Yaounde to Douala thereby causing an influx of travellers to the railway. It resulted in overloading and a neglect of certain safety measures as the in-depth investigations eventually proved.
Before coming back in greater detail on the impact of the Presidential measures and the investigations in our next publication, CT publishes in its entirety the English and French versions of the communiqué issued by the Minister, Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic, and our first analysis on the reaction of the Head of State to the results of the enquiry.
Eseka Train Accident: Head Of State Reacts To Enquiry Results
The publication of results of the enquiry into the October 21, 2016 train derailment points to acts of compassion by the Head of State and presents CAMRAIL as responsible for the accident.