Algeria : foreign companies to extract stuck wagons in tunnel

A foreign company will start Wednesday the extraction of 14 wagons stuck in a tunnel at the western entrance of the district of Lakhdaria ( 80 km east of Algiers ).According to the head of the transportation omission at the Algerian parliament, the rocky tunnel is on the verge of collapse following the collision of two trains loaded with fuel a month ago, causing blasts and toxic gases flaring.

A foreign company will start Wednesday the extraction of 14 wagons stuck in a tunnel at the western entrance of the district of Lakhdaria ( 80 km east of Algiers ).

According to the head of the transportation omission at the Algerian parliament, the rocky tunnel is on the verge of collapse following the collision of two trains loaded with fuel a month ago, causing blasts and toxic gases flaring.

Talking yesterday in the radio, M Mohammed Benhamou declared that the accident caused land slides and crumbling in addition to toxic gases emissions which are still polluting the air. M  Benhamou also added that the company has special equipment fit for such complicated operations, which enables the extraction of the wagons and the recovery of the lost mechanic guaranteeing that the 700 meter tunnel will not crumble during the proceedings, knowing that the tunnel is more than 100 years old.

The primary elements of the inquiry led by the security and judicial services as well as the ministry’s investigation committee will be disclosed tomorrow, but according to M Benhamou, human error is the most likely conclusion to be drawn.

In this respect, two top managers were put in custody on charges of gross mistakes, awaiting the outcome of the final inquiry.

To recall, the railway linking Algiers to the eastern and central towns of the country is still closed to traffic due to the accident.