June 15, 202321:12
In the train crash, 23 people were killed and 51 others were injured. The Court of Trani: “It was a human error”
Clash of trains in Puglia, work continues between the sheets of the two trains
For the train disaster occurred in Puglia on 12 July 2016 along the single track section Andria-Corato of the Northern Bari Railways, the Court of Trani ordered 14 acquittals and two convictions. Nell head-on collision between two trains, determined – according to the indictment – by human error and lack of investment in safety, 23 people died and another 51 were injured. The reaction of the relatives of the victims: “It’s a shamethis is not justice: you killed them twice”.
“It was human error” So it was a human error. And it was not necessary, as claimed by the prosecution, the investment of 664 thousand euros to avoid the train disaster. To avoid the tragedy, that sum would not have been essential to install the axle counter block system – to replace the old telephone block – which would have triggered the red light electronically in the event of danger to train circulation on the entire Corato-Barletta network. Because that tragedy was caused by human error and not by the lack of investment in security that would have dismantled the telephone blocking system deemed “unsafe and obsolete” by the public prosecution. This is the procedural truth that emerged from the device that the sentence of the Court of Trani returns seven years after the tragedy.
The convictions The station master of Andria, Vito Piccarreta, was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison while the conductor of the ET1021, the convoy that departed from Andria and headed for Corato, Nicola Lorizzo will have to serve 7 years. Both will also have to compensate the civil parties. All the other defendants acquitted. The administrative offense of Ferrotramviaria was also excluded “because the fact does not exist”.
Prosecutor’s requests The Trani prosecutor had asked for 15 sentences ranging from 12 to 6 years in prison and an acquittal and for Ferrotramviaria an administrative fine of 1.1 million and the revocation of authorisations, licenses and concessions for the exercise of the activity , including the safety certificate, for one year.
Relatives of the victims: “A shame” “It’s a shame”. “This is not justice: you killed them twice”. “Aren’t they ashamed? 23 died.” “How do they sleep at night?” These are the words of some family members of the 23 victims of the train crash. At the first acquittals in the courtroom, some of the family members burst into tears, others remained impassive such as Giuseppe Bianchino, father of Alessandra who died at the age of 29. “It’s not a fair sentence,” said Anna Aloysi, Maria’s sister who died in the disaster, in tears.
Mayor of Corato: “We take note of the sentence” “A sentence that we take note of. We certainly take note of the disappointment of the victims’ families”. This was stated by the mayor of Corato, Corrado De Benedittis, after the reading of the sentence. “Our Municipalities, Corato and Andria, have filed civil suits, and now we are waiting to read the reasons for the sentence for the necessary consequent assessments”, he concluded.