One of the survivors of the Kaduna-Abuja train attack, Shuaibu Adamu Alhassan said the corpses of his fellow passengers prevented him from being hit by bullets fired by the assailants.
Recall that the Kaduna-bound train, which left Abuja at 6 p.m. on Monday, was attacked by suspected terrorists at about 7.45 p.m., just about 15 minutes’ drive before Kaduna.
Eight persons have been officially confirmed dead, 46 hospitalised and several others kidnapped following the attack.
Alhassan said the attack on the train lasted about one hour and 15 minutes and was the most traumatic moment of his life.
Giving his account of the incident, he said, “The train left Kubwa station at exactly 6:30 pm, and the journey was smooth as usual until we got to Jere, then the train started slowing down and we were wondering what was happening because there was no sign of passengers boarding the train.
Then it started moving again, and at exactly 7:50, we heard an explosion. The train derailed and stopped. Before it could stabilise, we started hearing gunshots, and everybody became confused. The train stopped and the bandits took over the train. They boarded Coach 17; when they entered, they shot some people, then they came to our coach.
“As I was lying down, I heard one of them saying Musa, why did you shoot this person? He responded saying he is wasting my time. After 1 hour, and 15 minutes, we sensed the presence of the military.”
Alhassan further told reporters, “You are sitting close to somebody this minute, and the next minute, they are hit by a bullet, without you also knowing your chances of survival.”
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In recounting how he himself managed to survive the attack, he revealed two people who sat beside him on the train were hit by the bandits’ bullets, adding that, he escaped being shot as corpses of slain passengers fell on him, shielding him where he laid down.
“When they shot the lady beside me, I lied down immediately, then somebody fell on me. The corpse of the lady beside me fell on that person, and I was beneath both of them. That served as a cover for me. While the bandits shot sporadically, none of the bullets hit me,” he said.
Alhassan also added he and the other survivors struggled to avoid stepping on corpses as they were being rescued.