By Ibrahim Hassan – Kaduna

An explosion on Wednesday night has disrupted the Abuja-Kaduna train about 40 kilometres to Kaduna, leaving passengers in fear and confusion for over six hours after taking off from the Idu terminal in Abuja.

A passenger, Garba Muhammad ,said the train which departed Abuja around 6 pm on Wednesday, developed fault around 8pm when a loud sound from the engine forced the train to stop in the bush.

He said they heard a loud sound from the locomotive engine and the train gradually came to abrupt halt,a development that caused pandemonium from passengers when the security men in the VIP coaches shouted for all to take cover after the loud sound.

“Lights and the air conditioning systems immediately went off, leaving passengers in the heat and darkness,” he said.

It was gathered that when the security agents attached to the VIP coaches shouted to passengers to get down due to the loud sound, the thought that the train was under attack made passengers to scamper for safety ,as some fell over others.

It was a horrifying moment for the passengers in the middle of the bush at night, as it took about 4 hours for another engine to arrive and pushed the train to Rigasa Station in Kaduna.

Immediate past Senator of Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani in a statement on Thursday, alleded that “yesterday, terrorists attacked the Kaduna Abuja railway with an explosive and opened fire on the train, targeting the engine driver and the tank.”

“This morning,I was on board when our train ran over another explosive damaged rail . It took a miracle for us to escape.”

“All Kaduna-Abuja train operations should be suspended for today until the issue is addressed, ” he advised.

VANGUARD