Train derailments and explosions and chemical spills

[luc]

Just watched the initial press conference, which was postponed from 12:00 to 13:15 LT and took some notes:

They say that there are a total of three black boxes in the two trains, of which they recovered two. They expect the third one to be recovered today. The accident happened on a single-track rail in a turn, so the trains probably collided with the maximum speed on that track of 100 km/h. Apparently, there was a delay in the schedule of one (or both?) of the trains prior to the accident.

Apparently, the trains and infrastructure were equipped with the modern PZB-90 system which is supposed to make such accidents impossible. It was updated in 2011 after the last big train crash.

Those responsible said they were surprised that an accident like this is even possible nowadays in Germany.

One journalist said that there are rumors that there was one (two?) intern involved with driving one (or both?) of the trains and asked if this is true. The federal secretary of transport said they don't know. Another guy at the press conference denied this, saying that there was a regular train driver on board, plus a train driver apprentice. He emphasized that this means actually that they were in a better position to provide safety.

The persecutor said that everyone should refrain from speculation based on reports that come out, out of consideration for the victims. They plan to investigate "in all directions", "from technical failure to human error and all possible combinations".

The representative of the Deutsche Bahn said that 2 weeks (or 2 days?) ago, they checked the PZB-90 system at the signal box/interlocking system and everything was working fine, according to him.

Apparently, both train drivers are among the dead.

 

[Gawan]

To a German article the control system PZB was checked one week before. And the brand who operates the two trains is a French company named Meridian, which reminds a bit of the German wings accident somehow. And well, the accident happened at about 12,02° meridian/longitude and so far I couldn't find any aerial shots. Again a bit too coincidental imo.

 

[angelburst29]

This article provides several videos - plus a short aerial video.

Germany train crash: Several killed near Bavarian town of Bad Aibling
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35530538

What we know
The accident occurred on a single-track route between Rosenheim and Holzkirchen at about 07:00 local time (06:00 GMT)
Officials say they assume both train drivers had no visual contact before the crash as the site is on a bend - and therefore crashed into each other largely without braking
The stretch of line had an automatic braking system designed to halt any train that passed a stop signal. It is not yet known why this failed to stop the crash
Two of the three data recorders or "black boxes" on board the trains have been recovered

 

[casper]

The video was taken on a train after a tragic accident.
The video can be heard crying for help injured, but passengers and comments on how the accident could happen:

"I think we were hit by a train in the opposite direction"

"Maybe the traffic light was off"

"The score was off, damn it!"

video:
https://youtu.be/tR9dq9iLXxs

 

[Eulenspiegel]

To a German article the control system PZB was checked one week before. And the brand who operates the two trains is a French company named Meridian, which reminds a bit of the German wings accident somehow. And well, the accident happened at about 12,02° meridian/longitude and so far I couldn't find any aerial shots. Again a bit too coincidental imo.

What a terrible accident! Could you elaborate what kind of significance you attribute to the coordinates of the crash? Do you see a numerical significance in those numbers?

 

[Gawan]

To a German article the control system PZB was checked one week before. And the brand who operates the two trains is a French company named Meridian, which reminds a bit of the German wings accident somehow. And well, the accident happened at about 12,02° meridian/longitude and so far I couldn't find any aerial shots. Again a bit too coincidental imo.

What a terrible accident! Could you elaborate what kind of significance you attribute to the coordinates of the crash? Do you see a numerical significance in those numbers?

It is just that it almost happened on the 12 meridian if you round down and that that the company is called Meridian. At least this stood out a bit but could be just a coincidence.

 

[luc]

There are speculations in the press based on "well informed circles" (including in the main newspapers FAZ and SZ), from wikipedia:

The German Rail Accident Investigation Agency (Eisenbahn-Unfalluntersuchungsstelle des Bundes, EUB) opened investigation number 04/2016 into the accident.[21] The German police opened a separate investigation.[1] The cause of this accident was unclear.[22] By the evening of 9 February 2016, Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt reported that two of the trains' three train event recorders had been recovered. The third was still located in one of the wedged train carriages.[23]

The newspapers of the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND, including the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung) reported informal notes from investigators that a train dispatcher at the signalling centre in Bad Aibling had allowed a delayed train to proceed on the single-track section and before it reached the double-track station, the other train at that station was allowed to proceed onto the single-track section despite the automatic exit signal showing red.[24] This was dismissed by the investigating police as "pure speculation".[4]

The question in such a scenario would be the motivation of the train dispatcher - because it would be basically impossible to do this by accident, since he would have to pull two switches simultanously that are separated, plus there would be two warnings.

As it is now, the operator/train dispatcher does have the option to override all these alarm systems, since it is assumed that the human operator should have "the last word", so to say (but of course he has to go through several warnings etc.). There are already voices in the press that question this and say the computers should have full control


References:
_http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/zugunglueck-in-oberbayern-so-wird-das-stellwerk-in-bad-aibling-bedient-1.2858462
_http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/ungluecke/zugunglueck-in-bad-aibling-es-laeuft-alles-auf-den-fahrdienstleiter-hinaus-14062343.html

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Egypt train crash leaves more than 100 injured

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Egypt-train-crash-leaves-more-than-100-injured-444523

Over 100 people were wounded when a train crashed into concrete south of Cairo in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to Al-Ahram state media.

Tens of ambulances were rushed to the scene to treat the wounded, however local news reports said that the injuries were minimal. The train was headed from Aswan to the capital Cairo.

The train collided with a concrete block which led it to derail, lifting the front of one of the carriages several meters into the air.

Egypt's roads and railways have a poor safety record and Egyptians have long complained that governments have failed to enforce basic safeguards.

 

[casper]

Early Thursday morning in southern Cairo train crashed into a concrete block, and then a few wagons derailed. From hitting the concrete first carriages flew several meters into the air.More than a hundred people were injured.

Link:
http://www.eaglenews.ph/egypt-train-crash-leaves-more-than-100-injured-local-media/

 

[Cosmos]

To a German article the control system PZB was checked one week before. And the brand who operates the two trains is a French company named Meridian, which reminds a bit of the German wings accident somehow. And well, the accident happened at about 12,02° meridian/longitude and so far I couldn't find any aerial shots. Again a bit too coincidental imo.

What a terrible accident! Could you elaborate what kind of significance you attribute to the coordinates of the crash? Do you see a numerical significance in those numbers?

It is just that it almost happened on the 12 meridian if you round down and that that the company is called Meridian. At least this stood out a bit but could be just a coincidence.

Well that information is fairly interesting for several reason, since the "meridian" is both the system, that according to chinese medicine is working in the human body (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(Chinese_medicine) and a geographical line of longitude. If the meridian system has a problem in one spot in the body, the whole body system is not working that well anymore, since everything is connected trough it.

Also it is pretty interesting that Meridian company is a french one (message to france as well?) and that Horst Seehofer, the governor of bavaria (the state in which the trains crashed), was visiting Putin just a couple of days before the crash?!:

_http://www.n-tv.de/politik/Seehofer-gibt-Putin-merkwuerdiges-Lob-article16931836.html

 

[Cosmos]

To a German article the control system PZB was checked one week before. And the brand who operates the two trains is a French company named Meridian, which reminds a bit of the German wings accident somehow. And well, the accident happened at about 12,02° meridian/longitude and so far I couldn't find any aerial shots. Again a bit too coincidental imo.

What a terrible accident! Could you elaborate what kind of significance you attribute to the coordinates of the crash? Do you see a numerical significance in those numbers?

It is just that it almost happened on the 12 meridian if you round down and that that the company is called Meridian. At least this stood out a bit but could be just a coincidence.

Well that information is fairly interesting for several reason, since the "meridian" is both the system, that according to chinese medicine is working in the human body (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(Chinese_medicine) and a geographical line of longitude. If the meridian system has a problem in one spot in the body, the whole body system is not working that well anymore, since everything is connected trough it.

Also it is pretty interesting that Meridian company is a french one (message to france as well?) and that Horst Seehofer, the governor of bavaria (the state in which the trains crashed), was visiting Putin just a couple of days before the crash?!:

_http://www.n-tv.de/politik/Seehofer-gibt-Putin-merkwuerdiges-Lob-article16931836.html

In short, at this point there are way to much "coincidences" for my taste, that make me tend to the direction that it was somekind of message toward germany/bavaria from the PTB, similar to the germanwings crash. Also interesting is the fact that the trains crashed into eachother in a curve, which means that both train drivers had almost no time to hit the breaks, since they could only see the other train at a fairly late point.

It could also be a message from the universe though....

 

[Gawan]

To a German article the control system PZB was checked one week before. And the brand who operates the two trains is a French company named Meridian, which reminds a bit of the German wings accident somehow. And well, the accident happened at about 12,02° meridian/longitude and so far I couldn't find any aerial shots. Again a bit too coincidental imo.

What a terrible accident! Could you elaborate what kind of significance you attribute to the coordinates of the crash? Do you see a numerical significance in those numbers?

It is just that it almost happened on the 12 meridian if you round down and that that the company is called Meridian. At least this stood out a bit but could be just a coincidence.

Well that information is fairly interesting for several reason, since the "meridian" is both the system, that according to chinese medicine is working in the human body (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_(Chinese_medicine) and a geographical line of longitude. If the meridian system has a problem in one spot in the body, the whole body system is not working that well anymore, since everything is connected trough it.

Also it is pretty interesting that Meridian company is a french one (message to france as well?) and that Horst Seehofer, the governor of bavaria (the state in which the trains crashed), was visiting Putin just a couple of days before the crash?!:

_http://www.n-tv.de/politik/Seehofer-gibt-Putin-merkwuerdiges-Lob-article16931836.html

I agree that there are too many coincidences. And bavaria by the way is Germanys automobile stronghold and Germany most successful economy state.

 

[Chad]

A bus, not a train:

France bus crash: Six teenagers killed in Rochefort

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35548028

The freak accident took place in the centre of the town of Rochefort in Charente-Maritime, at 07:15 local time (06:15 GMT) on Thursday.

Those killed were aged between 16 and 18, according to French media. The bus was travelling from the Ile d'Oleron to Surgeres.

It comes one day after a bus crash in eastern France killed two children.

A boy aged 12 and a girl of 15 died on Wednesday when the driver lost control in snowy conditions near Montflovin in the department of Doubs.

As well as the six school pupils killed in Thursday's crash, a further three people were injured.

Also a car apparently just set itself on fire - figured to file it here incase this becomes common, probably was just an oil issue:

Car fire on Maidstone High Street
11 February 2016
by Mike Thompsett

mthompsett@thekmgroup.co.uk

Crews extinguished a car fire in Maidstone this afternoon.

The incident, involving a Renault Scenic, was first reported on High Street at 2.43pm.

It's not thought anyone was injured in the fire, which came from the vehicle's engine.

Home Maidstone News Article
Comments | 2
Car fire on Maidstone High Street
11 February 2016
by Mike Thompsett

mthompsett@thekmgroup.co.uk
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/car-fire-in-town-centre-90816/
Crews extinguished a car fire in Maidstone this afternoon.

The incident, involving a Renault Scenic, was first reported on High Street at 2.43pm.

It's not thought anyone was injured in the fire, which came from the vehicle's engine.

VIDEO: The car engulfed in flames

A witness said he spoke to a woman in the car who was reluctant to get out, it is reported she managed to escape just before it burst into flames.

The owner is believed to be a man who returned to find it alight.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, however, a firefighter at the scene said it is believed to be an oil problem.

 

[Dirgni]

What I found strange / fast that there are already rumours that the train dispatcher (Fahrdienstleiter) should be responsible for this even if police rejects this. So mass media already "found" a "responsible person" (case closed ?). But here media also say that root cause this is not yet found and investigation ongoing. It is a big story here. People say that they are used to see stories like this occur far away in TV but now they are shocked that it happend in the "neighborhood" / so near.

But this crash was on a day where much fewer persons were using it. The children had carnival vacation this week (Faschingsferien). Also one or other adult may have had a day off due to Shrove Tuesday (Faschingsdienstag). So less persons were in this than on normal week days.

The company of the Meridian trains is a daughter of the BOB (Bayerische Oberlandbahn). I remember that the BOB had technical difficulties when they started... The BOB also connects Munich with the country before the Alps. The refugees used to come to Munich before the Oktoberfest and then this problem "was moved" into the country and to the border South East of Munich. So maybe or maybe not a sign of the Universe because of this refugee crisis.

 

[Dirgni]

I agree that there are too many coincidences. And bavaria by the way is Germanys automobile stronghold and Germany most successful economy state.

One of the other big companies with headquarter in Munich is S i e m e n s, whose transportation sector is also building trains (_http://www.siemens.com/about/en/businesses/mobility.htm). The trains from this accident were not from it though.