GANTA, June 17 (LINA) – Arcelor Mittal-Liberia has blamed the derailment of its train conveying crude iron ore from mining site in Nimba County to the Port of Buchanan in Grand Bassa County on Saturday to potential “mechanical failure or malfunction”.
An investigation to establish the actual facts of the misfortune has been lunched, the company indicated.
The steel company’s train with 66 wagons loaded with iron ore and attached to one of the its locomotives partially derailed en route from Tokadeh to Buchanan at km 205 in Nimba County, and, “fortunately,” it says, “there were no injuries or serious damage to the environment as a result of the accident.”
The derailment, which happened at 4:15 a.m on 13 June, comes barely a month after yet another locomotive operated by the mining group crushed a man lying in the train track in District #8 of Nimba County.
Other accounts said they man was asleep.
Curious citizens, who trooped to the scene of last Saturday’s accident hours later, expressed regrets over the incident. They told the Liberia News Agency (LINA) it was unfortunate the company would incur such loss.
But in its post-accident statement, ArcelorMittal did not speak on the extent to which the situation has impacted its operation.
Notwithstanding, it announced “temporarily” suspension of rail operations, and that its recovery teams have been mobilized in the wake of the mishap.
“Company engineers are working to restore operations as soon as possible, taking all necessary safety and COVID-19 precautions for employees and the local community, as well as protecting the environment,” a release from the company said.
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