2016 Eséka train derailment
 Eséka
Location within Cameroon
|
|
| Date | 21 October 2016 |
|---|---|
| Time | 11:00 WAT |
| Location | Eséka, Centre Region |
| Coordinates | 03°38′41″N 10°46′17″E / 3.64472°N 10.77139°E |
| Country | Cameroon |
| Rail line | Yaoundé - Douala |
| Operator | Camrail (Comazar) |
| Type of incident | Derailment |
| Cause | Under investigation |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | ~1,300 |
| Deaths | 79 |
| Injuries | 551 |
Coordinates: 03°38′41″N 10°46′17″E / 3.64472°N 10.77139°E
On 21 October 2016, a Camrail inter-city passenger train travelling from Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, to its largest city, Douala, derailed in Eséka, Centre Region. By 30 October 2016, the official number of casualties had reached 79 dead, with 550 injured. It was the deadliest rail accident on the African continent since the August 2007 Benaleka train accident.
Camrail, which is a subsidiary company of the French Bolloré group, also operates Sitarail, the company that provides rail services in the former French colonies of Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Sitarail had a major accident in September 2016 when a bridge collapsed while one of Sitarail's trains travelled across it. The accident caused the closure of the international rail-link between the West African countries.
The Bolloré group, led by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré (whose son, Cyrille Bolloré, is the director of Bolloré Transports and Logistics and has been responsible for Camrail's operations since January 2016), also has plans to build and operate additional rail lines in French West Africa as part of the West Africa Regional Rail Integration plan.
...
Wikipedia