The number of people killed in a train crash in Cameroon on Friday has risen to 70, with another 600 injured.
Sources report that the accident has claimed two Ugandan pastors Nicodemus Nuwasiima and Nathan Tumwine of World Trumpet centre located in Mbarara.
The train, travelling between the country’s mains cities, Douala and Yaounde, when it came off the tracks, had been carrying about 1,300 passengers, instead of its capacity of 600.
The passenger load is said to have been higher because a road had collapsed due to landslides following heavy rains between Yaounde and Douala.
“The 30-year-old railway line and train could not carry the load”, officials told state radio, adding that the president has declared Monday to be a national day of mourning.
Pr Nicodemus Nuwasiima and Nathan had gone to this country to preach the gospel. Speaking to Uganda press on Sunday, Nuwasiima’s grieving family in Kawempe has expressed inability to bring the bodies of the deceased back home.
“The last we heard from them (a day before the train crush) , they were well engaged in ministry. They told us that God is doing great and mighty things. When we received news of their death, it came as a shock,” One of the family members said.
Suzan, wife to the late Nuwasiima has requested government to help them bring the bodies back to Uganda.
Other family members have additionally requested the Pentecostal community all over Uganda to stand with them in all ways possible.
marvin@ugchriatiannews.com
