Galician Prosecutors Office to Appeal Ruling in Angrois Railway Accident Case
The Galician Prosecutors Office has confirmed plans to appeal a recent ruling concerning the tragic Angrois railway accident, in which the train driver and the former Director of Safety in Circulation of ADIF received sentences totaling two and a half years in prison for the deaths of 80 individuals stemming from serious professional negligence. This announcement was made on Monday as sources within the Prosecutors Office indicated that the official appeal would be filed next week, marking the deadline set by the presiding judge for such actions.
The contents of the upcoming appeal have not yet been fully disclosed; however, officials stated that they would align with the position taken previously by the Area Prosecutors Office of Santiago. In the trial’s final conclusions, it was revealed that the prosecution's stance shifted, leading to the withdrawal of charges against the former security director of ADIF, placing the blame solely on the train driver for the catastrophic incident.
The judge’s ruling, which is over 500 pages long and was released shortly after the tragic accident’s 11th anniversary, categorized both the train driver and the previous safety chief at ADIF as responsible for 79 counts of homicide and 143 counts of injuries caused by gross negligence. Initially, the window for appeal was set at ten working days, concluding on September 10. However, due to the extensive clarifications required and the case’s complexity, this deadline has since been extended.
The prosecutorial team’s precise arguments for the appeal remain under wraps; despite this, the reasoning articulated by Mario Piñeiro, the prosecutor during the trial, sheds light on the case's intricacies. Piñeiro concluded that the former safety director acted properly, adhering to the established protocols and management systems sanctioned by national authorities, which conformed to the European regulations in effect. The assertion posits that the Ourense-Santiago high-speed rail line was constructed according to technical standards and aligned with ADIF’s guidelines.
Moreover, Piñeiro noted that a comprehensive risk analysis had been conducted concerning the railway line. This assessment supposedly identified certain operational risks as manageable, suggesting that trains running at speeds of 200 km/h were deemed safe under existing safety measures. Specifically, it was mentioned that the critical change in speed, which directly contributed to the derailment, had not been identified as a risk factor prior to the incident. Following the accident, an additional 400 potential risk points have now been recognized across the rail network.
As the case continues to unfold in the courts, the Prosecutors Office will now seek to clarify its stance, particularly focusing on the accountability of the ADIF safety director, while reaffirming that the tragic results of the Angrois incident were not solely attributable to the driver, but involved systemic oversight and potentially negligent practices within the operating frameworks of the railway management.
Related Sources: