Rail reconstruction starts at accident site
Reconstruction works have started on the damaged rail line following Monday’s train accident in Makata Industrial Site.
A The Daily Times crew that visited the accident scene yesterday noticed some engineers of Mota Engil working on the damaged section, which is about 100 metres long.
Communications and Corporate Image Manager for Central East African Railways, Chisomo Mwamadi, said the section will be passable by today.
“We are doing all we can to be back in business. We have enough capacity to rehabilitate it [the rail line] and, at the pace we are working, we will finish the work by Wednesday [today] and our trains will start operating again,” Mwamadi said.
He also said that, with the help of the Petroleum Importers Limited, they managed to recover the remaining diesel from the damaged wagons. He could, however, not say the exact litres they have recovered.
“Assessments are still ongoing. As of now, we have not come up with the monetary value [of diesel lost or recovered] but that will be available once we are done,” he said
The train derailed on Monday in Makata Industrial Site. The train had two locomotives and six wagons. It was travelling from Mozambique to Limbe.
The accident happened when the two locomotives detached, forcing the other locomotive and six wagons to travel about two kilometres backwards before derailing.
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