Coal-Laden NRZ Train Derails In Kadoma After Heavy Rainfall

The
train’s
load
remained
intact
and
no
one
was
injured
in
the
derailment.

NRZ
workers
have
been
on
site
to
assess
the
damage
and
begin
the
process
of
clearing
the
tracks.
Crews
have
also
been
working
to
remove
the
derailed
train
and
restore
normal
operations.
NRZ
said:

Our
recovery
team
has
managed
to
move
the
derailed
wagons
from
the
derailment
site
with
their
contents
(coal)
intact
to
the
station.
The
team
is
now
simultaneously
busy
with
aligning
the
tracks
and
re-railing
of
the
locomotive.

Kadoma
experienced
heavy
rains
(115mm
in
less
than
12
hours)
on
Saturday
night,
this
resulted
in
mud
accumulating
at
the
level
crossing
thus
covering
the
tracks
which
then
caused
the
train
to
derail.
Fortunately,
no
one
was
injured
due
to
this
derailment.

Commenting
on
the
incident,
journalist
Hopewell
Chin’ono
said
the
country’s
rail
system
has
become
“rotten”
after
decades
of
neglect
and
mismanagement.
He
wrote
on
X:

I
am
no
longer
surprised
when
I
hear
stories
of
train
derailments
in
Zimbabwe,
like
this
one
near
Kadoma
today.

The
railway
system
is
rotten,
yet
it
used
to
be
better
than
the
British
railway
system
in
the
1960s.
As
you
can
see,
it
no
longer
has
railway
sleepers,
a
basic
necessity
for
basic
railway
systems
for
them
to
be
safe.

I
wonder
what
goes
through
the
heads
of
our
political
leaders
in
government,
they
drive
million-dollar
Maybach
limousines
yet
the
railway
system
that
is
supposed
to
drive
business
is
broken
like
this.

It
is
as
embarrassing
as
it
is
tragic!
Thank
God
nobody
died
in
this
accident.
No
country
prospers
without
a
decent
railway
network.

You
can
chant
as
many
slogans
as
you
want
and
bootlick
the
president
as
much
as
you
like,
but
without
a
modern
railway
system,
you
are
a
banana
republic!