146 of the 362 passengers on the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna train are unreachable one week after the attack by bandits.
Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director (MD) of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), disclosed this in a statement obtained by POLITICS NIGERIA on Monday.
He, however, said the number of safe passengers had gone up to 186.
According to Okhiria, 51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or unreachable since last Tuesday morning and 35 phone numbers on the manifest are ringing, but no response.
The NRC helmsman clarified that 22 people are reported missing by their relatives and eight persons were confirmed dead.
“51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or have not been reachable since Tuesday morning and 35 phone numbers on the manifest are ringing, but no response from the other end. 60 phone numbers on the manifest when called, responded non-existent,” the statement reads in part.
”The statement is aimed at updating Nigerians on the ongoing development regarding the clearing of the incident site (recovery of the rolling stock, repairs of the track) and status of Passengers that were onboard the AK9 train of Monday, March 28.
”Of the 362 validated passengers on board the attacked AK9 train service on March 28, 186 persons on the manifest are confirmed to be safe and at their various homes (additional 14 persons confirmed safe today).”
