Fifty Seventh-day Adventists were among 200 people killed in a train crash in central Tanzania on Monday, according to B.M. Ruguri, secretary of the Adventist Church in East Africa. The Adventists were returning from a women’s ministries convention that had been held in Morogoro over the weekend.

The train was headed from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza and Kigoma. Reports from the region say the train’s engine and brakes failed on an incline causing all 20 coaches to roll backward for more than 11 miles and collide with a freight train in the hills near Msagali. More than 1,200 people were on board.

Ardis Stenbakken, women’s ministries director for the world church, said today that there are “no words to express how this tragedy shocks and saddens us.”

“I am stunned at the tragedy that has struck so many of our sisters in Tanzania,” she said. “My heart goes out to each one injured, to the family and friends of those who lost their lives, and to all who are caring for each one involved. My prayer is that each will be sustained and that sufficient help will be made available.”

Stenbakken paid tribute to the “effective and loving service” of the leaders who were among the victims, saying their loss would “profoundly impact the church.”

Matthew Bediako, secretary of the Adventist world church, also expressed his “sincere condolences to the church in East Africa, and to the family members of those who died.”

“We may not understand some of these things that take place in this world,” he said, “but there’s one thing we know: Our savior is going to abolish death with His soon return.”