(Business in Cameroon) - During the hearing on April 11, 2018, at the Eséka tribunal (about the rail accident of October 21, 2016), Jean Louis Salviat, an expert contracted by CAMRAIL revealed that the train’s overload could not be the cause of this accident if there was overload.  

According to the expert, the main cause could be the bad condition of the brakes at the time of this accident. This would have led to a breakdown of the braking system. He also informed that in that case, the manufacturer should be held responsible for the disaster; not CAMRAIL which took the security measures prescribed by the regulation.

Jean Louis Salviat also cleared the train driver’s responsibility in the incident because, since the brakes were in a bad condition, he could not stop the machine.  He further explained that as CAMRAIL could not detect the hidden manufacturing defect when it bought the wagons, only CSR Nanjing could be held accountable for the accident.

For the record, the said wagons were bought following an international call for tender launched in 2010 by Cameroon which should renew the railway material as it was specified in the concession agreement.

BRM