Deadly Mozambican Rail Crash Blamed on Worker

MAPUTO, Mozambique —  The worst rail disaster in Mozambique’s history occurred after a railroad worker unsuccessfully used four large stones to keep a packed passenger train from sliding down a hill, a railway official said Sunday.

Meanwhile, funerals began for some of the approximately 200 people killed in the crash, and health officials pleaded for blood donations for the 400 people who were injured.

The crash of a train carrying passengers and freight from South Africa happened about 5 a.m. Saturday near the town of Tenga, about 25 miles northwest of Maputo, the capital.

The train developed a mechanical fault as it descended a hill, so the driver disconnected the passenger section, at the back of the train, and drove the front section carrying freight to the nearby Tenga station, railway officials said.

The driver had wedged four large stones under the wheels of the passenger train to keep it from sliding down the hill, but the stones apparently came loose and the train barreled down the tracks into the freight train, said Antonio Libombo, an official with the Mozambican Railway Co.

The collision resembled a large explosion, and cement dust carried by the freight train filled the air, railway workers at the station said.

The choking dust buried dozens of passengers alive, and three cars were smashed to scrap metal.

“An investigation is still underway,” Transportation Minister Tomas Salomao said. “But at first glance, the crash was caused by a human error.”

Rescue workers toiled throughout Saturday to free many victims who were trapped in the wreckage.

Hospital authorities said medics then worked through the night to treat the many wounded, including 22 in intensive care and 169 more in a high-dependency unit, where patients are in a critical condition but out of immediate danger.

By Sunday, all the bodies had been removed from the wreckage and it had been cleared, Salomao told Radio Mozambique. Regular train service resumed, and three trains had passed through the area by Sunday afternoon.

Funerals for some of the victims were held Sunday in Moamba, not far from the crash site, and several border towns. Local civic organizations were helping with burial arrangements, and many people in this impoverished southern African country had gathered money together to help buy coffins for the victims.

The railroad also promised financial assistance to the families of those killed.