A BROKEN joint has been found on the rails where train crash killed 39 people, reports Reuters.
A source briefed on initial investigations into the disaster has revealed that technicians on site identified some wear on a joint between sections of the rail, known as a fishplate, which they believe to have been there for some time.
The faulty joint created a gap between the tracks that grew wider as trains continued to travel through it.
Declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, the source said that technicians believe this broken joint will be crucial in identifying the precise cause of the accident.
It was the train’s derailment that led carriages to smash into an oncoming train, be pushed down the tracks and into an embankment, killing 39 people and leaving hundreds injured.
Initial investigations have found that the first carriages of the Iryo operated train drove over the gap in the rails but that the eight, and last, carriage derailed, bringing the seventh and sixth carriages along with it, according to Reuters’ source.
The source was able to show a photograph where the gap in the vertical rail was visible, an image that also featured in a handout picture shared by the Guardia Civil.
The derailed Iryo train was less than four years old and the railway track had been completely renovated last May.
Furthermore, train manufacturer Hitachi Rail carried out a train inspection on January 15 as part of routine maintenance and found no anomalies, says the aforementioned source.
According to Alvaro Fernadez Heredia, president of Renfe, the operator of the second derailed train, said that it was too early to talk about the cause to the Cadena Ser radio station.
He did, however, add that the accident happened in ‘strange conditions’ and that ‘human error is practically ruled out’.
Spain’s Commission of Investigation of Rail Accidents (CIAF) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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