ELECTRICIAN DIES IN TRAIN ACCIDENT

An unidentified man has been crushed to death while attempting to board a train in motion at the Yaba Railway Market, Lagos State.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday at about 4pm, was said to have caused commotion in the area as people ran in different directions.

The man, who was an electrician on his way back from work, was said to have approached the train at full speed, but lost his balance and slipped, while the train dragged him, dislodging some parts of his body and eventually slitting his throat.

His working tools, which included a soldering iron, screw drivers and masking tapes could be seen close to his body.

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Eyewitnesses blamed the young man for the fate that befell him, but could not help sympathising with him.

One of the witnesses, who identified himself simply as Collins, said he lived around the railway area, adding that young men were fond of boarding trains in motion.

He said, “I was the one that dragged him away from the rail and covered his remains with a sack after the train had killed him.

“He tried to jump into the train, but lost his balance and slipped. The train just dragged him along, slitting his throat in the process.”

A commercial bus driver, Mr. Paul Austin, said he became aware of the incident when people where shouting.

According to him, he did not see when the victim tried to jump on the train, but he saw the train dragging him along as it moved.

An official of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, who arrived at the scene almost immediately, but refused to give his name, said the corporation would not take the corpse, adding that it would be evacuated by the Yaba Local Council Development Area.

He said, “I was not there when it happened, so I cannot tell you anything about it. The council will be evacuating the body from the scene.”

Our correspondent noticed some policemen in their patrol van close to the scene of the incident, but they seemed unconcerned about the incident.

One of them told our correspondent, “I do not know if there was a train accident. You can go to the railway corporation at Tejuosho to report it.”

At the railway corporation, a senior officer, who gave his name simply as Onyema, said he was ignorant of the accident. He directed our correspondent to the Railway Police Command located in the Ebute Meta office of the corporation.

At the command, the Area Commander, Rufus Okeja, said the police were not aware of the incident and that the corporation’s Public Relations Officer was the best person to speak to.

The PRO, Mr. Muyiwa Adekanbi, said the NRC got the information, adding that it would be handled by the police.

He said, “We just got the information, but it would be handled by the police.”

When asked how frequent railway accidents occur, he said, “We rarely experience railway accidents. From the information we got, the young man was trying to climb a moving train. If he had any identification card or phone, then his family would be contacted.

“But if there is no means of identification, then the police would take his body to the mortuary, and it would be there for one week because that is the longest they can keep him there.”