With the addition of new trains, contemporary rail lines, and redesigned older routes, Kenya Railway (KR) has significantly enlarged the scope of its rail operations.
The popularity of rail transportation is primarily attributable to the perception of safety it enjoys over the notoriously accident-prone road system. However, a 1993 incident gave a bleak impression of the nation’s primary long-distance transportation mode at the time.
The worst train accident in Kenyan history claimed the lives of 140 people and injured hundreds more when a locomotive hit a demolished rail bridge before crashing into a river flooded by the recent floods.
The tragedy happened at the Ngai Ndethya River near Mtito Andei on the Mombasa-Nairobi rail route, according to numerous sources at the time.
The third-class passengers were saved thanks to the train conductor’s rapid thinking, hence the majority of the fatalities occurred in the first and second coaches.
Journalists were informed by Jeremiah Musuva, who was then the chairman of Kenya Railways, that the conductor had pulled an emergency cord to separate the third-class carriages from the rest of the train before it slid into the river.
The rescue and retrieval activities took place over the course of two days, and the injured were sent to neighboring medical facilities.
Authorities said that the unaccounted-for survivors left the crash site after the incident.
By Kenyans.co.ke