the NRC stated of the 362 passengers on board the train when it came under attack, 186 had been validated safe.
One week after gunmen attacked a train with explosives in northwestern Nigeria, the whereabouts of 168 passengers are still unknown, according to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
At least eight people were killed and others missing on March 28 when gunmen detonated a bomb on the track and opened fire on the train connecting the capital Abuja with the northwestern city of Kaduna.
President Muhammadu Buhari had stated some passengers had been kidnapped and survivors said shooters had actually nabbed a number of passengers, however it is unclear the number of.
It was the latest fatal assault blamed on greatly armed criminal gangs known in the area as bandits in the region.
In a statement late Sunday, the NRC stated of the 362 passengers on board the train when it was attacked, 186 had actually been verified safe.
" Of the 362 validated travelers on board the attacked AK9 train service on March 28, 186 people on the manifest are verified to be safe and at their numerous homes," it stated.
The NRC stated of the remaining 176 passengers, 8 have been verified dead, leaving the whereabouts of 168 still unknown.It stated efforts were still underway to rescue the missing out passengers.
The corporation said harmed track and coaches were being repaired while services on the Abuja-Kaduna path had been "temporarily suspended".
2 days earlier, gunmen killed a border guard in an attack at Kaduna airport before armed forces intervened.
Gunmen also assaulted the exact same train line with dynamites in October.
Outlaw gangs in the northwest and main Nigerian states have actually long terrorised communities, conducting mass kidnappings for ransom, raiding villages and taking cattle.
However their violence has intensified. Shooters typically show up in their scores by motorbike, often striking several villages, killing and snatching locals.
Shooters have likewise targeted highways for kidnappings in between the capital and cities such as Kaduna and the northwestern industrial hub Kano.
Nigeria's military has actually been performing operations and air campaign to clear bandits out of their camps hidden in forests across several states in the northwest. However the violence has continued.
Security forces are also battling Nigeria's 12-year jihadist insurgency in the northeast that has actually killed 40,000 people and displaced more than 2 million more.
