In a press release published on January 30, Camrail, the railway concessionaire in Cameroon, warned of the dangers of crossing railway tracks. “ Camrail reminds that the railway rights-of-way are a private domain and that it is strictly forbidden to lie down, sit or walk on the rails because these acts expose their perpetrators to serious dangers”, writes the Camrail subsidiary, Africa Global Logistics (AGL), entity created by the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) after the acquisition of the Bolloré group’s subsidiaries in logistics in Africa.
This recall comes after one of the company’s trains hit two people on the night of Monday, June 29 to Tuesday June 30 on the outskirts of Olembe in Yaoundé. The toll given by the company is one dead and one injured” whose vital prognosis was not engaged according to the medical profession“, indicates Camrail in its press release.
According to the company, the victims are a man (deceased) whose “ age is estimated between 35 and 40 years by doctors ” and a 45-year-old woman, who “ found themselves lying ” on the tracks.
“According to initial indications, they were in a very advanced state of intoxication after having spent, according to witnesses, a good part of the night consuming alcohol. Despite the repeated horns and the engagement of the braking system, the collision with freight train 905Lu could not be avoided ,” reports the company, which presents its “ sincere condolences ” to the bereaved family.
In Cameroon, crossing railway tracks is strictly regulated by law and the movement of people on the rails is prohibited outside authorized crossings. However, accidents on the railway involving trains and people or vehicles are recurrent. In 2022, Camrail said it recorded 14 train collisions across the 139 official level crossings on the national rail network. This figure is up compared to the years 2020 and 2021, during which respectively 3 and 13 collisions were recorded on conventional level crossings. The company regularly organizes campaigns to make road users aware of the risks involved in trespassing on railway tracks and to encourage them to change their behavior.
PNN