Renamo attacks train on Northern line

The train, consisting of two locomotives and ten wagons, came under fire in the Muriza area, about 18 kilometres east of the town of Cuamba, as it headed towards Nampula city.

Three crew members and three policemen were in the lead locomotive which was hit by the gunfire. A bullet struck one crew member in the thigh. He received treatment in the Cuamba district hospital, and was discharged on Tuesday.

Mohamed Riaz Mahomed, spokesperson for the Northern Development Corridor (CDN)), which operates the line from the port of Nacala to Malawi, said the locomotive did not suffer any significant damage. “The train was going at normal speed, estimated at 60 kilometres an hour”, he said. As for the wagons, which included fuel tankers, they were empty and returning to port.

This was the first Renamo attack on the northern railway, since it resumed its insurrection in February. Riaz Mahomed said that trains are circulating normally again along the line. “The police have assured us that that there are conditions for rail traffic to move, and we are operating normally”, he told “O Pais”.