Kenya Railways confirm fire incident on train
Kenya Railways have attributed the ‘small’ fire on one of its cargo trains to an electric fault in the engine.
A statement by the parastatal conceded the train which was headed to Nanyuki from Sagana on Sunday caught fire after leaving the Sagana station.
“The electric fault that led to a small fire and smoke to billow out of the locomotive engine was quickly identified and fixed,” a statement from Kenya Railways read in part.
— Kenya Railways (@KenyaRailways_) June 6, 2021
According to the corporation, the train has been removed from service as a safety precaution and to prevent further damage to the engine.
Further, the situation was contained by firefighters from Murang’a county who were swift in containing the early morning incident; hence no casualties were reported.
“Our engineers arrived at the area promptly and rectified the problem, and service is expected to resume once a full inspection is completed,” they added.
In December, a Nairobi-bound train stalled in Ruthagati, Nyeri, after it developed a mechanical problem.
This was later resolved after some minutes. The train had more than 1,500 passengers onboard.
“The crew noticed a mechanical issue with the train that is why they stopped to address it. However, they resumed their journey without more hitches,” Kenya Railways MD Phillip Mainga said then.