According to Tiago Lisboa, responsible for infrastructure at Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), CFB concessionaire, on Wednesday night, the driver reported the incident, which prevented the train, which was carrying 62 passengers, from moving from from Luau, Moxico province, to Benguela.
Tiago Lisboa said that the teams went to the site to investigate the situation, noting that in the Mina-Cango section there were three vandalized points, covering a length of 119 meters of fixings.
The official highlighted the imminent risk of derailment and accident, with the passage of any type of train being "impractical".
"We had financial damage in the order of 45 million kwanzas and operational disruptions," he said.
In turn, CFB's director of operations, Fábio de Carvalho, said that the public company and the LAR consortium will pay greater attention to these "zones of low communication" and will reinforce the appeal to the National Police to guarantee greater surveillance in these stretches.
Fábio de Carvalho said that the clamps and threads that fix the lines were vandalized, putting at risk the circulation not only of passenger trains, but also of the transport of LAR goods, with "dangerous chemical material".
The CFB operations director stressed that the company has been carrying out awareness campaigns since 2023, to create a greater culture of reporting these acts.
The CFB, with 1344 kilometers, connects the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico.
Recently, the Government approved the law on crimes of vandalism of public goods and services in Angola, which provides for a prison sentence of between three and 25 years for anyone who vandalizes public goods and services.
