The Rudine derailment was a train derailment that happened on 24 July 2009 at 10:08 GMT near the village of Rudine in southern Croatia, on the Zagreb-Split railway line.[1] The derailment site is located on the slopes of Kozjak. The accident caused the deaths of 6 people, and 55 were injured.
Rudine derailment
Remains of the train, as seen in Solin near Split, on 27 January 2012. (The other car is placed back-front.)
Croatian media say that this is the worst railway accident to have occurred in independent Croatia to date, adding that if the train had derailed into a ravine 30 m ahead, the death toll could have been much higher.
The accident happened when the two-carriage tilting train of the RegioSwinger type carrying about 90 passengers derailed at 10:08 GMT (12:08 local time) in a remote area near the village of Rudine, around 30 km (19 mi) from its destination. The front carriage hit the sides of a cut through a hillside twice, before breaking apart from the second impact.
According to Croatian news reports, the cause of the derailment was slippery fire retardant that was just sprayed on a steep downhill section of the track, a normal practice in extreme summer heat but executed improperly[2] using a new chemical. With brakes ineffective, the train gained a speed higher than the track configuration could handle and derailed.[3]
Investigationedit
From the very beginning of the rescue operation, the initial investigation was focused on the fire retardant that was sprayed on the railroad approximately 10 minutes before the derailment. Investigators were suspicious about traction on the tracks because the rescue train, which was coincidentally the same railway service vehicle that supported spraying of the fire retardant, suffered a loss of braking and derailed at the same location as the passenger train, narrowly missing rescuers who were cleaning up the accident site.[4]
On 27 July 2009 a cleaning operation on the 11 km (6.8 mi) stretch of railroad between the stations Kaštel Stari and Labin Dalmatinski begun, but was stopped within an hour because of a new discovery important for the investigation. The cleaning teams followed the fire retardant supplier's directions and washed the tracks with hot water. However, the cleaning supervisor quickly noticed that while most of the retardant washed off, a yellow-brown film of an unknown slippery substance remained on the tracks. A sample of the substance was taken as evidence and sent to Zagreb for chemical analysis. According to the TG-300 retardant description,[5] it is an "aqueous based resin liquid penetrate" but its exact composition is unpublished.[6] Three days after this accident, the fire retardant manufacturer added a warning "do not spray on tracks" to their TG-300 web site.[7]
Aftermathedit
Police brought to the interview responsible people from the HŽ supply office as well as the responsible people from the company that had imported retardant. Director of HŽ Infrastructure, a company within HŽ Holding, and two of his associates were removed from their positions by the act of the Minister of Transport Božidar Kalmeta.[8] Two people who played the most important role with purchase and application of the retardant were, by the order of new HŽ Infrastructure director, put on suspension and subsequently fired from the company.[9]
Sixteen of the total of 55 injured passengers had remained in treatment in the Split central hospital for several weeks. The driver, Josip Palinić was discharged after his physical injuries were treated, and was not charged with any wrongdoing by the police. Criminal charges were brought upon Ivan Medak, the chief of ecology of HŽ Infrastruktura, Drago Rogulj, chief of the fire department of HŽ Split, Ivan Tomašković, the director of Intrade, Jozo Bazina, Intrade employee, and Branko Tišljar, a fireman involved in the spreading of the fire retardant.[10] Croatian police continued to investigate and reveal the circumstances of the obtainment as well as application of the fire retardant, prompting widespread consternation in the Croatian press and public regarding the state of management and mishandling of public tenders in the Croatian Railways.[11]
After recovering the wreckage from the site and needed track repair, the traffic was resumed on 2 August 2009 at 20:00 GMT for freight traffic only, while the scheduled passenger service resumed the day after on 3 August 2009 at 4:00 GMT.
Trialedit
On 13 April 2010 the County Attorney in Split indicted Ivan Medak, Ivan Tomašković, Jozo Bazina, Drago Rogulj and Branko Tišljar in court on criminal charges of premeditated general gross negligence with fatal consequences.[12] In a May 2013 verdict, Medak and Bazina were sentenced to four and three years in prison respectively, and the rest of the defendants were acquitted.[13][14]
Referencesedit
^Budmir, Milena (24 July 2009). "Officials: 6 dead in Croatia train crash". NewsOK. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
^"Drago Rogulj mobitelom snimio polijevanje tračnica". from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
^"Za nesreću kriv premaz na tračnicama, policija podnijela kaznene prijave". Nacional (in Croatian). 26 July 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^"Service Car Responds To Derailment, Nearly Hits Rescue Workers & Derails!". Train Fanatics. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
^"TG-300 Outdoor Applications" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
^"Za tragediju na pruzi kriva je nepoznata smola?". from the original on 29 July 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
^"Priopćenje za javnost ICN310709" (Press release). from the original on 16 July 2011.
^. www.hznet.hr. Archived from the original on 31 July 2009.
^"Strojovođa pušten iz bolnice, kaznena prijava protiv Medaka i još četvorice". 28 July 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
^"Retardant nabavljen po cijeni od 155.000 HŽ platio 957.700 kuna!". 28 July 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
^"Podignuta optužnica za vlak smrti u Rudinama: Medaku prijeti 15 godina zatvora". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 13 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
^"Presuda za tragediju u Rudinama: Medaku četiri godine zatvora, Bazini tri, ostali oslobođeni!". Index.hr (in Croatian). 3 May 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
^"Two jailed for 2009 fatal train derailment accident". tportal.hr. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
External linksedit
Wikinews has related news:
Tilting train derails in Croatia, six dead
Video of the railway works vehicle narrow miss
October 27, 2023
rudine, derailment, train, derailment, that, happened, july, 2009, near, village, rudine, southern, croatia, zagreb, split, railway, line, derailment, site, located, slopes, kozjak, accident, caused, deaths, people, were, injured, remains, train, seen, solin, . The Rudine derailment was a train derailment that happened on 24 July 2009 at 10 08 GMT near the village of Rudine in southern Croatia on the Zagreb Split railway line 1 The derailment site is located on the slopes of Kozjak The accident caused the deaths of 6 people and 55 were injured Rudine derailmentRemains of the train as seen in Solin near Split on 27 January 2012 The other car is placed back front DetailsDate24 July 2009 12 08LocationRudine KastelaCoordinates43 34 12 N 16 18 41 E 43 570115 N 16 311307 E 43 570115 16 311307 est CountryCroatiaLineZagreb to SplitOperatorCroatian RailwaysIncident typeDerailmentCauseExcessive speed caused by braking failureStatisticsTrains2Deaths6Injured55Site of the derailmentSite of the derailment Croatia Croatian media say that this is the worst railway accident to have occurred in independent Croatia to date adding that if the train had derailed into a ravine 30 m ahead the death toll could have been much higher Contents 1 Details 2 Investigation 3 Aftermath 4 Trial 5 References 6 External linksDetails editThe accident happened when the two carriage tilting train of the RegioSwinger type carrying about 90 passengers derailed at 10 08 GMT 12 08 local time in a remote area near the village of Rudine around 30 km 19 mi from its destination The front carriage hit the sides of a cut through a hillside twice before breaking apart from the second impact According to Croatian news reports the cause of the derailment was slippery fire retardant that was just sprayed on a steep downhill section of the track a normal practice in extreme summer heat but executed improperly 2 using a new chemical With brakes ineffective the train gained a speed higher than the track configuration could handle and derailed 3 Investigation editFrom the very beginning of the rescue operation the initial investigation was focused on the fire retardant that was sprayed on the railroad approximately 10 minutes before the derailment Investigators were suspicious about traction on the tracks because the rescue train which was coincidentally the same railway service vehicle that supported spraying of the fire retardant suffered a loss of braking and derailed at the same location as the passenger train narrowly missing rescuers who were cleaning up the accident site 4 On 27 July 2009 a cleaning operation on the 11 km 6 8 mi stretch of railroad between the stations Kastel Stari and Labin Dalmatinski begun but was stopped within an hour because of a new discovery important for the investigation The cleaning teams followed the fire retardant supplier s directions and washed the tracks with hot water However the cleaning supervisor quickly noticed that while most of the retardant washed off a yellow brown film of an unknown slippery substance remained on the tracks A sample of the substance was taken as evidence and sent to Zagreb for chemical analysis According to the TG 300 retardant description 5 it is an aqueous based resin liquid penetrate but its exact composition is unpublished 6 Three days after this accident the fire retardant manufacturer added a warning do not spray on tracks to their TG 300 web site 7 Aftermath editPolice brought to the interview responsible people from the HZ supply office as well as the responsible people from the company that had imported retardant Director of HZ Infrastructure a company within HZ Holding and two of his associates were removed from their positions by the act of the Minister of Transport Bozidar Kalmeta 8 Two people who played the most important role with purchase and application of the retardant were by the order of new HZ Infrastructure director put on suspension and subsequently fired from the company 9 Sixteen of the total of 55 injured passengers had remained in treatment in the Split central hospital for several weeks The driver Josip Palinic was discharged after his physical injuries were treated and was not charged with any wrongdoing by the police Criminal charges were brought upon Ivan Medak the chief of ecology of HZ Infrastruktura Drago Rogulj chief of the fire department of HZ Split Ivan Tomaskovic the director of Intrade Jozo Bazina Intrade employee and Branko Tisljar a fireman involved in the spreading of the fire retardant 10 Croatian police continued to investigate and reveal the circumstances of the obtainment as well as application of the fire retardant prompting widespread consternation in the Croatian press and public regarding the state of management and mishandling of public tenders in the Croatian Railways 11 After recovering the wreckage from the site and needed track repair the traffic was resumed on 2 August 2009 at 20 00 GMT for freight traffic only while the scheduled passenger service resumed the day after on 3 August 2009 at 4 00 GMT Trial editOn 13 April 2010 the County Attorney in Split indicted Ivan Medak Ivan Tomaskovic Jozo Bazina Drago Rogulj and Branko Tisljar in court on criminal charges of premeditated general gross negligence with fatal consequences 12 In a May 2013 verdict Medak and Bazina were sentenced to four and three years in prison respectively and the rest of the defendants were acquitted 13 14 References edit Budmir Milena 24 July 2009 Officials 6 dead in Croatia train crash NewsOK Retrieved 26 July 2009 Drago Rogulj mobitelom snimio polijevanje tracnica Archived from the original on 2 August 2009 Retrieved 1 August 2009 Za nesrecu kriv premaz na tracnicama policija podnijela kaznene prijave Nacional in Croatian 26 July 2009 Retrieved 20 November 2016 Service Car Responds To Derailment Nearly Hits Rescue Workers amp Derails Train Fanatics Retrieved 9 May 2019 TG 300 Outdoor Applications PDF Archived PDF from the original on 11 July 2011 Retrieved 1 August 2009 Za tragediju na pruzi kriva je nepoznata smola Archived from the original on 29 July 2009 Retrieved 1 August 2009 TG 300 web site Priopcenje za javnost ICN310709 Press release Archived from the original on 16 July 2011 Obavijest za javnost www hznet hr Archived from the original on 31 July 2009 Strojovođa pusten iz bolnice kaznena prijava protiv Medaka i jos cetvorice 28 July 2009 Retrieved 10 October 2009 Retardant nabavljen po cijeni od 155 000 HZ platio 957 700 kuna 28 July 2009 Retrieved 10 October 2009 Podignuta optuznica za vlak smrti u Rudinama Medaku prijeti 15 godina zatvora Slobodna Dalmacija in Croatian 13 April 2010 Retrieved 13 April 2010 Presuda za tragediju u Rudinama Medaku cetiri godine zatvora Bazini tri ostali oslobođeni Index hr in Croatian 3 May 2013 Retrieved 15 March 2014 Two jailed for 2009 fatal train derailment accident tportal hr 3 May 2013 Retrieved 15 March 2014 External links edit nbsp Wikinews has related news Tilting train derails in Croatia six dead Video of the railway works vehicle narrow miss Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rudine derailment amp oldid 1173097977, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
