Accidents
Although KR has been an economic lifeline, it has been plagued by safety issues. Derailments are common. The maximum speed of trains on the railway is 30 mph/48.3 km/h. Notable accidents include these:
- In 1990, 114 perished in a Mombasa-bound passenger train which plunged into a river after floods washed away a bridge at Ngai Ndethya.
- In 1999, 32 died at Tsavo National Park when brakes on a passenger train failed, making it derail.
- In 2000, 13 died near Kisumu after a passenger train rolled backwards due to failed brakes.
- In 2000, at least 25 were burnt to death after a freight train carrying gas exploded.
- On the morning of 16 October 2005, a matatu (taxi minibus) was struck by a passenger train near Kisumu. Six people died and 23 more were injured.
Read more about this topic: Kenya Railways Corporation
Famous quotes containing the word accidents:
“Some accidents there are in life that a little folly is necessary to help us out of.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Depression moods lead, almost invariably, to accidents. But, when they occur, our mood changes again, since the accident shows we can draw the world in our wake, and that we still retain some degree of power even when our spirits are low. A series of accidents creates a positively light-hearted state, out of consideration for this strange power.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)