CFL is already working on restoring Luanda/Malange circulation
Ndalatando – A technical and investigation team from the Luanda Railway (CFL) is already working on rerailing and investigating the causes of the accident, on Wednesday, 10 kilometers from Ndalatando, capital of Kwanza Norte, from a fuel train with 14 diesel wagons, bound for Malange.
Speaking to the press, the CFL spokesman, Augusto Osório, informed that the technicians had already stopped the fuel leak in the two cisterns, reducing the damage to the environment.
The technicians will work first on restoring the Luanda/Malange circulation and then on removing the damaged material to workshops in Luanda, he explained.
Augusto Osório did not give a forecast for the completion of the works, which he called "quite complicated", taking into account the damage.
The accident, which took place at kilometer point 230, in the locality of Lússue, interrupted railway traffic on the Luanda/Malanje section and resulted in the tipping of eight cistern wagons and the destruction of around 150 meters of railway line.
Some mines near the accident perimeter were destroyed and the owners are demanding that the damage be repaired.
In 2021, the CFL recorded two accidents on this section. The first took place in January, in the municipality of Lucala, Cuanza Norte, also involving a fuel train and the second in Cacuso, Malange, with a maintenance locomotive.
The CFL, inaugurated in 1909, is 479 kilometers long and connects the Angolan capital, Luanda, to the provinces of Cuanza Norte and Malanje. It has 28 stations and provides passenger, merchandise and postal services.
The line has been the target of sabotage by citizens looking for ferrous material for illicit sale to steel mills, a phenomenon that has been occurring in the country in recent years.
In August 2021, the direction of the Luanda Railway (CFL) denounced the theft of 400 screws from the railway line, at Cassualala station, Dondo branch, Kwanza Norte province, which prevents the movement of trains.
Source: Angop (10 February 2022)