Cameroon train crash toll rises to 80

The death toll from the Cameroon train crash has risen to 80 with over 600 injured, officials say.

A derailed train with coaches on their sides in Eseka, Cameroon

The death toll from the Cameroon train crash has risen to 80 with over 600 injured, officials say. (AAP)

Eighty people have been confirmed dead and more than 600 others injured, three days after the derailment of a passenger train in Cameroon, the transport minister says.

"We expect the toll to rise [even further]," Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o said, as the West African nation was in national mourning due to Friday's accident.

"There may still be corpses hidden in the rubble, and we have critical cases in hospital," the minister added.

President Paul Biya on Saturday put the death toll at more than 70.

The train, which had about 20 carriages, started developing problems near the town of Eseka, which is 120km from the capital, Yaounde, with coaches gradually detaching themselves.

Four carriages crashed into a ravine and ejected passengers. Bodies were strewn at the site. Some were mutilated beyond recognition, witnesses said.

The train, which was meant to carry 600 people, carried more than twice that amount because hundreds of extra passengers had sought rail transport after the collapse of a bridge blocked an alternative road route.


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Source: AAP


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