The Kaduna State Government has announced that 398 passengers bought tickets for the trip on the Abuja-Kaduna train service which was attacked by terrorists on Monday night with the release of the passenger manifest by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
The figure appears to contradict the earlier media report that almost 1,000 passengers were on board the attacked train.
This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, on Wednesday, where he noted that 362 of these passengers were validated as having boarded the train through the gate.
Aruwan revealed that the document confirmed that 8 dead bodies were recovered, while 26 were injured, with several of the passengers still unaccounted for as search operations were said to be ongoing.
He, however, noted that the NRC explained that the passenger manifest does not include NRC staff and security officials who were on board.
The Kaduna State Government in the statement also appealed to the public to assist with information regarding passengers on the train by contacting the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency on the phone line 09088923398, adding that further updates will be communicated to the public.
What you should know
- Recall that on Monday, some terrorists attacked an Abuja-Kaduna train with many passengers on board. The attack which occurred a few kilometres to Kaduna metropolis had about 8 people killed, with dozens injured and some others suspected to have been kidnapped by the bandits.
- The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on a visit to the scene of the incident, said that the tragic incident could have been avoided if the N3 billion digital security equipment they had been pushing for had been acquired.
- The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in the company of heads of security agencies in the state, on Tuesday, visited some of the victims receiving treatment at the 44 military hospital and St. Gerald hospital.
- The bandits were said to have opened fire, shooting sporadically on the train, and later gained access to the train.
Here is the manifest list below
