At least 195 people were killed on Saturday when a train overturned outside the Mozambican capital, where hospitals were scrambling to find doctors and blood supplies to treat the more than 160 injured, officials said.
The exact death toll has not yet been fully established, with different news agencies providing varying numbers of between 195 and 205.
”The scenario is dramatic. There are corpses everywhere, and under the rubble. We are removing them, and the number of dead will sharply rise,” Transport Minister Tomas Salomao told state radio by telephone from the scene of the accident.
Fire fighters were still searching for survivors as night fell, but so far 166 people had escaped the wreckage alive.
National director of health, Alexandre Mangwele called for massive donations of blood because ”many wounded are at the risk of losing their lives”.
The government declared three days of national mourning beginning at midnight, with the national flag lowered to half-mast.
A government statement said an investigation into the cause of the accident was underway, but preliminary findings indicated human error.
Early investigations found that the passenger wagons had separated from the cargo wagons as the train was working over a hill.
The train’s engineers then tried to back up the passenger section to reconnect with the cargo wagons, but they lost control and the two sections somehow collided, flipping cars on top of each other, the communique said.
The train was headed from Maputo to the town of Moamba, about 50 kilometres away, Radio Mozambique said.
The accident occurred around the 40 kilometres outside the capital at around 5:00am (0300 GMT), the radio said.
The tragedy immediately placed an enormous strain on the health care system in one of the world’s poorest countries, where outbreaks of malaria and cholera earlier this year drained the small stocks of supplies.
Maputo Central Hospital has been dangerously short of blood for months. In December, the hospital completely ran out of blood and had to launch a door-to-door campaign to find donors.
The hospital has recalled all doctors on leave and ordered all medical students to report to the hospital to help treat the victims.
Hospital officials told Radio Mozambique that some people died en route to hospital, while others died while waiting for treatment.
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who was visiting his home area in the southern province of Gaza, cut short his trip to return to the capital upon receiving news of the accident.
In a speech on national radio, Chissano called for ”solidarity with the victims of the accident,” and later went to visit victims at Maputo Central Hospital.
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday expressed shock and sadness at Saturday’s train.
”The horrific train accident has been received with deep shock and a sense of immense fellow feeling with the people of our neighbour country.
”We in South Africa express our sincerest condolences to the loved ones of those who died or were injured, and generally to the people of Mozambique,” Mbeki said in a statement.
Former President Nelson Mandela’s representative Zelda la Grange said on Sunday that former Mozambique’s first lady Graca Machel was currently abroad and had not yet made any statement on the
accident.
Meanwhile South Africa’s High Commissioner in Mozambique, Xolisa Makhaya was due to meet with that country’s police at noon to establish whether any South Africans or any other nationals were involved in the accident.
In another development, South African rail company Spoornet said it would gladly lend assistance in the clearing of the rubble from the crash scene but had not yet been approached to do so.
Spoornet representative Mike Asefovitz also said that while some of the company’s coaches were leased to Mozambique, it was not yet known whether any of those were part of the ill-fated train. – Sapa, AFP