[1] The train was a regular industrial transportation service running from Cameroon's oil fields along the Nigerian border to the capital Yaoundé, where it would either be processed at the Mvolye plant, or shipped directly to the coast for exportation.
A large number of local people and passing taxi drivers stopped to collect the oil in containers, which they could then sell on for a bit of extra money, when the disaster occurred.
[4] The emergency services arrived on the scene soon after the blaze started, but were for a long time held back by the force of the flames, which they were only able to contain, not extinguish.
[5] Railway services to the south of the country were cut off dealing another blow to Cameroon's oil industry, following a series of border skirmishes with Nigerian troops over control of the area two years previously.
[3] Former colonial rulers France sent numerous types of aid to Cameroon following the disaster, including several prestigious medical burns specialists, as well as financial and technical help.