Cameroon train was going 'abnormally' fast before crash: company

Paris (AFP) - The train that derailed in Cameroon last week killing 79 people was travelling "abnormally" fast before the crash, a senior executive from the rail operator's French parent company told AFP on Tuesday.

"On part of the tracks approaching the station where the derailment occurred, we had speeds that were abnormally high compared to the speeds we should have had," said Eric Melet, head of Bollore Africa Railways.

A judicial enquiry has been launched into the accident which also injured about 550 people.

Melet said trains travelled at between 40 and 50 kilometres per hour in "slow zones" such as approaches to railway stations.

"But we have indications which seem to show that the approaching train was travelling at between 80-90 kilometres an hour when it should have been much less."

The train was travelling from the capital Yaounde to the economic hub of Douala and came off the rails near the central city of Eseka.