Train wreckage being removed in Germany; answers sought

Investigations into a head-on train crash in Bavaria that killed 10 people are focused on the actions of a signal controller, sources close to the inquiry say.

Police said nine of the 10 dead had been identified and both train drivers were among them.

Local police reported that the identity of one victim has not been confirmed yet.

Why the two trains collided remains a mystery at this point, but investigators are focusing on human, technical and infrastructure errors.

“At the moment we will have to wait”, he had said Tuesday.

Influential daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said preliminary investigations showed a signal controller had switched off the safety system and only realised the mistake when it was too late. Preliminary reports indicate a human error could be the cause of the crash.

German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrint says the two passenger trains that crashed in Bavaria were on a curve and it appears that neither had time to brake before they hit head-on.

The accident, which occurred near the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling at 6:50 am (0550 GMT), saw two commuter trains carrying a totl of 150 people collide at full speed on a single-track line in a partially wooded area. “That includes examining the black boxes, looking at what happened on the tracks, speaking with witnesses and signalling workers”, said spokeswoman Vera Moosmayer.

Passengers spoke of feeling hard braking then a “giant bang” as the two trains slammed into one another, tearing the two engines apart, and derailing cars near the front.

At the crash site, about 100 emergency workers were helping with the removal of the wreckage — a job that the German news agency dpa said would take at least two days.

“I trust that the authorities responsible will do everything they can to clear up how this accident could happen”, she said in a statement.

Rescuers had been searching for a missing passenger at the crash site, but yesterday the person was no longer thought to have been on board one of the trains.

Investigators will have to find out why a train that left Holzkirchen travelling east to Rosenheim was on the single track at 06:48, four minutes after it was due to reach its next stop at Kolbermoor, where it would have met the westbound train on a double track.

Train operator Bayerische Oberlandbahn said it had started a hotline for family and friends to check on passengers.

The track is equipped with an automated braking system to prevent incidents such as these, but it appears to have malfunctioned – though the system was allegedly checked as recently as last week.