In Sunday’s incident, a passenger train hit a stationary cargo train near the town of Dodoma, in central Tanzania. It happened near Pandambili in Dodoma’s Mpwapwa District, as per the Tanzania local media .
The initial death toll was thought to have been 15.
William Lukuvi, Dodoma’s regional commissioner, told AP news agency: “Cranes have been ordered to help separate the crumpled wreckage and retrieve bodies.”
In 2002, more than 200 people were killed and hundreds more wounded when a freight train collided with a passenger train outside Dodoma – the worst rail accident in the country’s history
The only difference however, is that in this case, the train wreck is no accident. It has been a clear robbery in the guise of an accident. The cargo train was carrying petrol and a mob wanted to steal the petrol. They have ‘engineered’ the train wreck so that in the ensuing chaos, they could steal and get away with it.
But, the poice seemed to have caught on to the plot.
Seven people have been arrested, including the driver of the cargo train and the station master.