NAN-F-35
Crash
Cotonou, June 14, 2017 (Reuters/NAN) The National Centre for Railway Security (CNSR) said four people were killed in a train crash in Benin on Wednesday.
The train was operated by a subsidiary of French industrial group Bollore.
According to Ramani Kassoumou, a senior official at the CNSR, the Benirail train was traveling in excess of the speed limit on the railway that runs from the capital Cotonou to the northern city of Parakou when it collided with a bus.
Also, Interior Minister Sacca Lafia said the accident caused “several deaths” but did not offer specifics.
Hospital sources in the city of Save near where the accident occurred said four people had died and another 30 were injured.
Bollore is the operator and largest stakeholder in Benirail, with the remaining stake held by the Benin and Niger governments and other private investors.
A Bollore spokesman in Benin could not be immediately reached for comment.
79 people were killed in a crash in Cameroon in October 2016 on a train operated by Camrail, also a Bollore unit.
The train was traveling at twice the speed limit, the Cameroon government concluded.
Bollore declined to comment on the report at the time. (Reuters/NAN)
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