New evidence from ongoing investigations into the Tempe train tragedy with 57 fatalities has come to light. This time, a new report from the fire department has been made public. The multi-page report states that the second locomotive of the commercial train shows deformations that are a consequence of the collision, however it bears no traces of burning or other alterations from fire exposure. It is also noted that there are no traces of combustion inside the cabin. This additional evidence contradicts the findings of the Hellenic Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board regarding the transport of flammable cargo in the second, empty cabin of the commercial train.
According to larissanet.gr, the report from the Arson Crime Investigation Unit is now in the hands of the appellate investigator and concerns the fire that followed the collision of the two trains.
Tempe tragedy: “There is no evidence of combustion” concludes the Arson Crime Investigation Unit
The investigation team visited the site where the train wreckage was stored in Koulouri in March to investigate, among other things, the scenario of cargo transport in the second cabin. After 6 months, the unit concludes that there is no evidence of combustion.
The expert assessment by a professor of metallurgy from the National Technical University of Athens, who also visited Koulouri during the same period, concluded that the alterations to the cabin were the result of collision and not explosion.
To complete the investigation, it appears that the delivery of the final analyses from the General State Laboratory is still awaited, while in the coming days, a Judicial Council is expected to be formed to examine the criminal prosecution aspect concerning former Transport Minister Kostas Achilleas Karamanlis.
