ABANDONED

Much of the wreckage of December’s train accident behind Dune 7 near Walvis Bay is still stacked at the popular tourist attraction’s entry road, making it an eyesore for visitors.

Two locomotives and 17 wagons loaded with manganese derailed at the beginning of December last year due to a breakage in the railway near Dune 7. The locomotives were removed, and the line reopened about four days later, but according to the acting CEO of TransNamib, Eugenia Tjaronda, the locomotives were a write-off. The rest of the wagons and cargo were left at the entrance of the Dune 7 recreational site. Tjaronda yesterday told The Namibian that all of the wagons, spares and containers will be loaded onto open-top wagons and sent to Windhoek by next week. All of it should be gone by the end of this month. The company suffered a loss of more than N$65 mil- lion because of the accident. “Once the wreckage has been removed, TransNamib will rehabilitate the area,” she said.

Photo: Adam Hartman

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