Traffic controllers indicted over 2012 train crash
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
04.12.2014 11:36
Two traffic controllers have been indicted in connection with the 3 March 2012 train crash that killed 16 people in Szczekociny, southern Poland.
Crash site. Photo: wikipedia
Andrzej N. and Jolanta S. (names withheld under Polish privacy laws) stand accused of both manslaughter and falsifying records in traffic logs.
According to Tomasz Ozimek, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Czestochowa, the indictments were submitted to a district court there on Thursday morning.
The March 2012 train crash was the worst in over over two decades in Poland.
The accident occurred at 8.57 pm local time, when a northbound train train running from Przemysl to Warsaw collided with a southbound service from Warsaw to Krakow.
Besides the 16 fatalities, 58 people were injured.
According to the investigation, Andrzej N. mistakenly cleared the southbound train to move onto the wrong track.
Meanwhile, Jolanta S. allegedly cleared the northbound train to travel along the already occupied track.
Andzrej N. had a mental breakdown after the accident, and he spent several months in psychiatric care.
Both defendants face prison sentences of up to 13 years each for the combined charges against them. When questioned, the defendants denied committing any crime, and they declined to offer any explanation. (nh)
Source: PAP/IAR