The sentence of the Court of Trani arrives with two convictions and 14 acquittals at the end of the trial for the railway accident of 12 July 2016, which occurred along the single-track section Andria-Corato of the Ferrovie del Nord Barese, managed by Ferrotramviaria. According to the indictment, the collision between the two trains at the time occurred due to human error and lack of investment in safety. 23 people died that day and 51 others were injured. The judge today, 15 June, sentenced Vito Piccarreta, station master of Andria, to 6 years and 6 months in prison and the conductor of the train that left Andria and headed for Corato, Nicola Lorizzo, to 7 years in prison. Furthermore, both will have to compensate the civil parties. The prosecutor had asked for 15 sentences ranging from 12 to 6 years’ imprisonment and an acquittal, but apart from the two, the rest of the defendants were acquitted, and an administrative fine of 1.1 million for Ferrotramviaria, which is not was accepted because “the fact does not exist”.
The dynamics of the accident
That one-way platform at the time was governed by a telephone system whereby station masters exchange directions to authorize the departure of trains to the next station. But on 12 July 2016 the Andria station was given the go-ahead at 10.45 for the departure of the ET1016 from the Corato station and, without waiting for the arrival of this convoy in the Andria station, they set off at 11:00 on Et1021 towards Corato. Inevitably, the two trains collided. And the circulation was blocked until the following April. Today there is no longer a single track, but there are two tracks and they are equipped with automated safety systems.
Victims’ families: “You killed them twice”
“This is not justice: you killed them twice.” Thus some relatives of the 23 victims of the railway collision commented on the reading of the sentence. Faced with the first acquittals proclaimed by the judge in the courtroom, some of them burst into tears, while others remained still, as in the case of Giuseppe Bianchino, father of Alessandra, who died at the age of 29. “It’s not a fair sentence. But aren’t they ashamed?” said Anna Aloysi, Maria’s sister who died in the disaster, with anger and tears.
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