Abuja-Kaduna train attack: My family is confused, says relative of missing passenger

 

Some family members of passengers aboard the Kaduna-bound train that was attacked on Monday are yet to know the fate of their relatives.

 

Gunmen attacked the train which was on its way to Kaduna from Abuja.

 

The gunmen were said to have blown up the rail track after which they launched an attack on the passengers.

 

Several persons including one of the train drivers, food vendors, and cleaners were reportedly killed in the attack.

According to NAN, the victims’ families lamented that they were yet to establish contact with their loved ones who were on board the train.

 

Mohammed Barau, a resident of Ungwan Rimi area of Kaduna, said his younger brother was a passenger on the train.

 

“We called his line several times without response until later his friend seated with him on the train picked and told us that my brother left his phone on the seat and that he did not know his whereabouts,” Barau was quoted as saying.

 

 “When we later tried to call again, the phone was switched off, and when we called the friend, he was not picking up.

 

“By now, the government should have released a comprehensive list of people killed, those injured, as well as the number of people evacuated.

 

“At least, when this is done, it would give us some peace of mind, but we have not heard anything yet.”

 

Lami Gombo, a resident of Kudenden in Kaduna, said she was yet to hear from her brother who was also on the train.

 “His telephone lines are switched off. We have been to the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, but did not see him there,” Gambo reportedly said.

 

“The development is worrisome. The entire family is confused as to whether our brother is still alive, dead, or had been kidnapped.”

 

A staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, who also spoke with NAN, said some of the passengers fled into the bush for safety when the incident occurred.

 

“Nobody can ascertain whether passengers were kidnaped or not, but the pandemonium must have caused a lot of people to run into the bush to safeguard their lives,” the staff was quoted as saying.

 

Meanwhile, the Kaduna state government said the evacuation of trapped train passengers had been concluded and that victims of the incident had been moved to hospitals.