THE Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) operations resumed on Wednesday after completion of the line's repair following a train accident at Lyadebwe village in Wanging'ombe District, Njombe Region on Monday.

Tazara Deputy Managing Director Mr Damas Ndumbaro, told the 'Daily News on Saturday' that the damage on goods which were being transported to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia from Dar es Salaam port would be covered by the insurance. "Generally, all our customers (those who transport goods) are insurance holders," he said.

A train driver, one Ali Kilumanga, died in the accident while his co- driver, Mashaka Bujilima, sustained injuries after train number 0755 derailed due to break failure. According to Mr Ndumbaro, some goods were recovered from the accident scene and transported to Makambako station, a distance of about 25 kilometres.

Mobilization for rescue operation from Mbeya and Mlimba District started immediately after the accident. He said a report on the accident shows that there was no fault on the engine and test was done by Makambako engineers, adding that shunting and brake test were done by Mbeya-based crew.

"During the test, one wagon was removed and three others were fixed, making a total of 29 wagons," he said. Earlier on, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Eng. Omar Chambo, hailed an effort by the police to recover about 500 bags of fertilizer which were stolen by villagers after the accident.

"A special search was conducted, and about 500 bags of fertilizers were recovered from villagers, Eng. Chambo told reporters.

He also pointed out that the accident had caused damage to the infrastructure, train wagons and two locomotives estimated at 5bn/-.