At least 39 injured in train derailment in southern Mozambique

At least 39 people were injured early Wednesday when two trains collided in the Moamba area of ​​Maputo in southern Mozambique, a Ports and Railways of Mozambique (CFM) source said.

The accident occurred around 4:50 am (3:50 am in Lisbon) on the Ressano-Garcia line and affected a freight and passenger train carrying 95 people, said Augusto Abudo, chief executive of CFM. in the south of the region, the local press quoted.

The freight train was stopped while waiting to cross with a passenger train from Ressano Garcia, a region bordering South Africa, bound for the city of Maputo.

The 39 lightly injured, five of whom were children, were taken to the Moamba Medical Center, 31 people were discharged from the hospital, four are still under observation in this department, and another four have been transferred to the Matola provincial hospital, the official said.

“CFM deeply regrets what has happened and wishes a speedy and full recovery to the injured passengers and crew,” the company said in a statement sent to Lusa.

According to preliminary data from CFM, the accident occurred due to “incorrect setting of trains at crossings.”

The company said it had set up a commission of inquiry to “determine the real causes of the crash” between trains, noting that the traffic was “normal”.

In the first half of this year, at least 28 people were injured in varying degrees of severity and minor injuries in train accidents, with 95 derailments, 55 collisions and 25 collisions with vehicles, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Transport and Transportation. Mozambique connection.

Causes include “negligence and disobedience at level crossings, lack of maintenance of signs, sabotage and destruction of infrastructure due to weather events,” the report notes.