Cargo Train Derails in Nairobi Slum, 10 Injured
A cargo train derailed in a sprawling Nairobi slum Sunday, injuring at least 10 people as it crashed into makeshift homes where people are feared still trapped, rescuers and residents said.
"In all, 10 people have been treated at Kenyatta National Hospital," a Red Cross emergency officer at the scene told Agence France Presse, adding that three had sustained only slight injuries and have been discharged.
The locomotive and wagons were still lying tipped on their side amid piles of rubble as night came.
"The heavy-duty cranes have arrived and railway staff are doing work on the line in order to be able to start lifting the wagons," the Red Cross officer said.
The 10 injured included people freed from the shacks in the derailed train's path.
Johnson Maina of the fire service department said his colleagues had managed to dig out and rescue several people who had been "crying out from the structures that were crushed and who couldn't move."
Local people suggested that casualties may be lower than initially feared as most of those whose houses were destroyed appear not to have been at home when the accident happened, having either left for church or gone back to their villages for the Christmas holidays.
"Because of the time of year and the time of day a lot of people were not at home," a local chief who identified himself as Patrick told AFP.
"The initial report is that people are feared trapped, but so far we have not received reports of any actual missing persons," the Red Cross officer said.
The Red Cross had earlier said that "scores were feared trapped."
"We are thankful for the swift effort in rescuing people. It is by luck that it did not happen at night when people are sleeping. We could have a huge disaster here," said Mercline Akelo who sells fish just next to the rail line.
"I was about to open my business, I had gone for stock and heard about it on my way back. I don't know what could have happened if the accident had occurred when I was selling my fish," she said.
Kibera is one of Africa's largest slums, its tin-roofed shacks housing an estimated quarter of a million people, according to an NGO that carried out a population study there.
Transport Minister Michael Kamau said the government has long warned the residents of Kibera not to build their homes right next to the railway, which crosses the settlement.
"We have always warned people against encroaching on the line," he said. "So they must move, we cannot continue having such disasters," he said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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