Fire fighting equipment were missing as fire razed the newly procured Warri-Itakpe standard gauge train coaches in the early hours of Wednesday, 12th Jan 2022

   In a trending video, fire gutted the newly procured train and railway workers were seen battling it with leaves, blankets and other objects due to the non-availability of fire fighting and other safety equipment on board the train coaches.

  A staff of the NRC who craved anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak to the press said the cause of the fire is still unknown.

  “The cause of the fire is still unknown as we speak but it has finally been put off. It is one of the new trains that runs scheduled trips between Warri and Itakpe,” the senior railway worker said.

  When asked why NRC workers were seen in a video battling the fire with leaves and blankets instead of a fire extinguisher, the staff said most of the train coaches don’t have fire extinguishers fitted in them.

  “Most of the train coaches don’t have fire extinguishers. So the workers used what was available to them as of the time of the incident and they were able to quench the inferno even though a substantial part of the coaches got burnt,” the staff added.

  When contacted, the Spokesman of the NRC, Mr. Mahmood Yakub explained that investigation is ongoing to unravel the cause of the fire.