Five people have died as a result of the Warri-Itakpe train disaster, according to Dr. Kayode Opeifa, Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

He added that 40 passengers were hurt to varied degrees.

The Warri-Itakpe train's coaches overturned close to Agbor in Delta State on Monday, resulting in fatalities and injuries.

Some of the passengers have been transported for surgery and X-rays, according to Opeifa.

In order to determine the cause of the accident and prevent such incidents in the future, he also hinted that the Corporation will carry out a track safety audit as part of the investigation.

He said: “It was an unfortunate situation, and unfortunately, we lost five of our dear customers, Nigerians. The figure is five as of last night, and there has not been any addition to that up to now.

“We have about 40 injured, out of these, there were 25 serious injuries, considering the nature of the accident. Out of these 25, we have seen those who are in the hospital, and some of them have been discharged.

“Some of them have been sent for X-ray and some for surgery. That is the situation of the injured and deceased; those are the facts.

“482 people were on board, 442 of them were passengers and another 40 were crew, third-party contractors like the caterers and the cleaners”.

He added that contact tracing of every passenger will be carried out within the next 72 hours and that everyone on board has been accounted for.

"Of note is that everyone on board was accounted for, and contract tracing has started. We will have contacted everyone on the manifest within the next 72 hours," he stated. Two hours after the event, the manifest was received.

“Our system has everybody who bought tickets online; they are traceable. We have the phone number from when they bought the ticket. So, we are doing everything possible to make sure that we manage this situation in the best way possible”.