The train derailment site in Eseka, Cameroon October 24, 2016 days after a packed passenger train carrying more than 1,400 people between the capital Yaounde and the central African country's port city of Douala derailed. REUTERS/Josiane Kouagheu
PARIS (Reuters) - A train that derailed in Cameroon killing at least 79 people on Friday had recently had its number of carriages doubled and was travelling at twice the normal speed when it crashed, the chairman of the train operator's parent company told Reuters.
Eric Melet, chairman of Bollore Africa Railways, a unit of French conglomerate Bollore Group which owns train operator Camrail, said the train was running at about 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) as it neared the station at Eseka.
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