By ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

One of the newly procured Warri-Itakpe standard gauge train coaches was on Tuesday evening gutted by fire.

A staff of the NRC disclosed that the cause of the fire was still unknown.

“The cause of the fire is still unknown as we speak, but it has finally been put out. It is one of the new trains that run scheduled trips between Warri and Itakpe,” the staff explained.

When asked why NRC workers were seen in a video battling the fire with leaves and blankets instead of a fire extinguisher, the staff said most of the train coaches don’t have fire extinguishers fitted in them.

“Most of the train coaches do not have fire extinguishers, so the workers used what was available to quench the fire, even though a substantial part of the coach was burnt,” the staff explained.

When contacted, the NRC spokesman Mr Mahmood Yakub said investigation was ongoing to unravel the cause of the fire incident.

He said: “The Managing Director would be addressing the media on the cause of the fire but investigation is ongoing to know the cause of the fire on one of the coaches of the Warri-Itakpe train.” (The Nation)