News

Emergency services on scene after trains collide near Salisbury

Emergency services have scrambled to respond to a collision of two trains near Salisbury on Sunday night, in a critical incident that left one train carriage derailed.

About 50 firefighters from Dorset and Wiltshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight and South Western fire and emergency rescue services are at the scene, which is close to London Road in Salisbury, along with Wiltshire police and Network Rail.

The British Transport Police (BTP) said: “There have been no fatalities, however a number of people have been injured.

“Most of these people are walking wounded however a small number, including the driver, have been taken to hospital where their injuries are being assessed.

“A major incident has been declared and this has been a large scale, multi-agency response working closely alongside our colleagues in Wiltshire. We will remain on scene throughout the night working to establish the full circumstances of how this incident came to happen.”

The BTP said a casualty centre has been set up at St Mark’s Church in Salisbury. Train services in the area have been halted.

Dimitri Popa, 17, was on the first train carriage travelling from London Waterloo. “It all happened very fast. There was a big crash, then I saw flames,” he said.

“The carriage was 45 degrees to the right. We didn’t know where we were or anything, we were very shocked.”

Morgan Harris, 20, travelling on the same train, was thrown from his seat. “It was all going along normally then all of a sudden there was a massive bang and all of the lights went out,” he said.

“There [were] sparks and flames from where we had come off the track. There was a load of ash coming from outside. Our train was on its side. I was thrown out of my seat and I banged around the table.”

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said investigations into the crash would be undertaken in order to help prevent similar “serious” incidents in future.

The BTP said officers were called at 6.46pm and responded to an incident at Fisherton Tunnel, Salisbury. Citing a Network Rail spokesperson, PA reported that shortly before 7pm the rear carriage of a GWR train struck an object on its approach to Salisbury station and came off the tracks.

“The derailment knocked out all of the signalling in the area,” the Network Rail spokesperson added. “Subsequently, the 17.20 South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Honiton then collided with the Bristol train.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary, Manuel Cortes, said: “We will have to await further details, but this is a very sobering reminder about why safety on our railways is always paramount.

“The thoughts of our entire union are with the loved ones of everyone caught up in what may well turn out to be a tragic event.

“No doubt that over the coming days and weeks we will find out why this accident happened. A full investigation will now need to follow.”

A Great Western Railway spokesperson said: “Emergency services are responding to an incident at Fisherton Tunnel near Salisbury station, involving the 17.08 GWR service between Portsmouth Harbour and Bristol Temple Meads and the 17.20 SWR services from London Waterloo to Honiton.”

The line will be closed in the area on Monday, affecting SWR trains between Exeter and Basingstoke, and GWR trains between Westbury and Portsmouth.

News

Bandits kill one, kidnap district head, eight others in Kebbi

Bandits have kidnapped Alhaji Isah Daya, the district head of Kanya under the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

The bandits kidnapped the monarch and eight others when they stormed his village on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

The bandits also k!lled one and injured three persons during the attack.

The spokesperson for the State Police Command, Nafui Abubakar, who confirmed the attack, gave the name of the deceased as Sherriff Alhaji Almu.

According to the PPRO, a combined security team led by the police has launched a manhunt on the abductors of the monarch to rescue the abducted persons.

He noted that the Kebbi State Government has provided the needed logistics to tame banditry in the affected towns, particularly Kebbi South, Zuru Emirate.

The attack came a few days after bandits k!lled the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Suru Local Government Area of the state.

News

FG mobilises Julius Berger to complete N820b road projects

The Federal Government has told Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to fast-track the completion of the rehabilitation of the 82-kilometre Section II of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway and the construction of the Bodo-Bonny road with bridges across the Opobo Channel, Route 430 in Rivers State.

Works Minister David Umahi said the government could not continually negotiate with the contractor over the same projects.

In a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, during a meeting with Julius Berger, represented by its Executive Director for Projects, Benjamin Bott, and the Head of Contract Management, Omonigho Brown, the minister stressed the need for contractors handling Federal Government’s projects to exhibit corporate nationalism in price negotiation in the face of the daunting economic challenges facing the country.

Umahi said the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its meeting on September 23, approved the re-scoping and downward review of the contracts.

He said: “We have Section II, which is 82 kilometres by two, which is the section that JBN Plc is working on.

“And so, if you check what FEC approved on September 23, FEC had approved that the total contract sum within the scope of Berger would be N740 billion. This means that if you remove N391 billion paid already, you now have about N340 billion remaining. This is the scope of their work for the 164 kilometres.”

The minister urged the contractor to mobilise for work on the four sections of the Abuja-Zaria-Kaduna-Kano project to finish the job within 14 months.

News

Police thwart plan by armed men to kidnap a foreigner in Anambra, recover four dead bodies

Police Operatives in the morning of Sunday, October 6th, 2024 thwarted the abduction/kidnapping plan of a foreigner by suspected armed secessionist members in Ogbunka village.

The Operatives courageously engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle and saved the VIP.

SP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer who disclosed this in a statement said during the gun duel, two Police Operatives who were hit by bullet escaped with the foreigner.

He added that they are stable and are currently receiving treatment in a hospital.

Meanwhile, Operations are ongoing in the area for the possible arrest of the Armed men.

Also, Police operatives attached to Nimo Police Station responded to a distress call on 6/10/2024 by 8:25 pm of a suspected cult clash at Umuka, Nawfia. The Operatives upon arriving at the scene, found four lifeless bodies of young men in a pool of blood with suspected multiple gunshot injuries lying on the road.

The victims were confirmed dead by a doctor on duty and have been deposited to the morgue.

They were later identified as one Ebuka Nwaonkwube Ekenta of Mmimi village Nawfia, Nnatuanya Junior A.K: A Starboy of Mmimi village Nawfia, Aniemena A.K.A Osama of Umuariam Village and one Ahmed Auwal.

Information from eyewitnesses and some villagers reveal that the victims are known for their nefarious activities and are always in rivalry with another cult group in the area.

Furthermore, Joint patrol with Operatives of the Special Anit Cultism Squad (SPACS) has been intensified in the area.

In another development, the Commissioner of Police *CP Nnaghe Obono Itam* has ordered
immediate investigations into the gruesome murder of a 17-year-old girl suspected of being used for ritual purpose.

The girl’s lifeless body was found in a bush at Omasi village on 6/10/2024 by 4:25 pm and she was later identified as one Chinasa Adigwe from Umueje village and her private parts were cut off in a bush at Omasi Village before Police were alerted. The body has been recovered and deposited in a morgue.

The CP while condoling with the family, friends and Community of the deceased states that the Police shall do everything possible to make sure that those behind the barbaric act are arrested and justice served.