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Some of the injured
Some of the injured

False fire alarm on Takoradi train causes stampede, scores injured

A false fire alarm on a Takoradi bound train Thursday morning caused a stampede resulting in the injury of about 50 passengers.

The injured, mostly students of Bompeh SHS and Adiembra SHS, sustained cuts in the arm and legs and were sent to the Takoradi Hospital and New Takoradi Clinic for treatment..

The incident occurred at the Butuah Station in Takoradi at about 7:40am.

Explaining the cause of the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Thomas Brown, said the Engine Master detected a non-critical smoke from the engine compartment of the train when he got to the Butuah Station.

He added that upon detecting the smoke he raised an alarm, causing the passengers to panic and rush out of the train.

“The train took off from the Sekondi Station but what happened is that the Engine Master upon reaching the Butuah Station got down to carry out a formality of collecting a pass before moving on.

“While returning to the train, he saw some smoke coming out from the engine but some of the passengers also, upon seeing the smoke, raised alarm compelling the passengers to rush out of the train while the doors were locked,” he said in a radio interview on Citi FM.

“In the process of breaking the windows to get out, they sustained injuries,” he added.

According to Mr. Brown, the train in question is still in active service except that some of its windows are broken as a result of the chaos.

“Nothing got burnt and the train is moving. It is still in good shape. The only problem now is the broken glass which is unfortunate,” he noted.

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