(By Denis Greenan).
A team of five Trani investigators
on Wednesday began probing suspected human error in the train
crash near Bari Tuesday that killed 23 people in Italy's worst
rail accident since 32 were killed in Viareggio in 2009.
As rescue operations ended, Transport Minister Graziano
Delrio told the Lower House that the phone dispatching system
used on the single track was hopelessly out of date and vowed to
pour billions of euros in investments into regional commuter
networks to upgrade systems, especially in the poorer south of
Italy.
The death toll from the head-on commuter train collision in
the southern Puglia region has risen to 23 dead and 52 injured,
eight seriously, sources said, denying earlier reports that four
people were still missing - which would have pushed the toll up
to 27.
The prefect of the towns of Andria, Barletta and Trani,
Clara Minerva, said: "There are 23 bodies at the Bari morgue".
Local prosecutors have launched a multiple manslaughter
probe into the crash that occurred on a single track between the
towns of Andria and Corato, and may have been caused by human
error.
Rescuers and canine units worked all night and day in
search of other survivors or victims who might still have been
trapped in the twisted metal of the wreck.
Family members on Wednesday started identifying the dead at
the morgue in the city of Bari. Moments of tension were reported
early in the morning when morgue officials tried to limit access
to two relatives per victim in the identification process. After
protests and cries of "shame" all relatives present were allowed
in and the situation reportedly went back to normal.
Prefect Minerva said rescuers working since the previous
day in search of other survivors or victims had found human
remains under a locomotive removed from the tracks.
Victims include train driver and Andria native Pasquale
Abbasciano, who was a year away from retirement, and 23-year-old
Giuseppe Zingaro, who had previously been reported missing. One
of the rescuers working at the scene, Marianna Tarantini, also
said the first victims she spotted right after the crash Tuesday
were a mother holding her little daughter in her arms.
"They were lying against an olive tree, the mother was
protecting her little daughter and they were in a fetal
position," she said. "They were the first I found, in the middle
of heads, arms and torsos scattered everywhere under the trees,"
said Tarantini.
Fifteen of the injured are being treated in hospitals in
Andria, Barletta and Bisceglie. Four - Matteo Mascoli, 83,
Raffaele Di Ciommo, 31, Valentina Dell'Olio, 23, and Samuele
Desario, 7 - are reportedly in critical condition.
Local prosecutors have launched a multiple manslaughter
probe into the crash that occurred on a single track between the
towns of Andria and Corato, and may have been caused by human
error. However, Trani State attorney Francesco Giannella, who
will be heading the team investigating the crash, said Wednesday
the probe will look into all possible causes.
"The investigation will not only look into human error, we
must examine all possibilities," he said. Giannella noted that
no one has yet been placed under investigation, although this
might change "in a few hours".
He added investigators will also focus on delays in
renovating the security system, which in that particular stretch
of track relied on an old telephone alert system used to inform
station masters of trains travelling on the single track.
The phone dispatcher system like the one that failed to
prevent the crash is inherently risky, Transport Minister Delrio
told parliament, saying 600km of Italian rail lines still rely
on such primitive methods.
"The safety of the stretch where the crash occurred is
controlled via telephone dispatches that leave the management
entirely up to men, and it is among the least up-to-date and
riskiest systems of controlling rail circulation," he told the
House.
Italy has some 2,700 kilometres of rail lines which are
still single-track, Delrio explained.
The government has decided to earmark a further 1.8 billion
euros for regional rail networks around Italy, and has issued a
tender to double that stretch of track.
"The bid deadline is July 19," the minister said.
"Unfortunately in this country the rail (network) has never
been cared for (and) over five million people commute to work
and study on regional lines," Delrio continued.
"There has been a clear turnaround with this government,
and we have earmarked several billion euros for regional rail
transport," Delrio said.
"We want to guarantee full development and full safety for
commuter travel run by the regions," he said.
"We want to make these lines safe. We are always willing to
continue to push on safety issues and to continue investing in
technology and in renewing the rolling stock. We want services
befitting the great country that we are," Delrio said.
"In this day of mourning it is not the time to pass the
buck...but to gather together to find a way to make up for
accumulated delays and give dignity to people so that they can
travel safely on trains," he concluded.
Following is the list of 22 of the 23 victims. The name of
the 23rd victim, a man of about 50, is missing.
- Pasquale Abbasciano, born in Andria 17 April 1955;
- Giuseppe Acquaviva, born in Andria 15 February 1957;
- Serafina Acquaviva, born in Andria 14 maggio 1954;
- Maria Aloysi, born in Bari 4 October 1966;
- Alessandra Bianchino, born in Trani 5 November 1987;
- Rossella Bruni, born in Trani 16 March 1994;
- Pasqua Carnimeo, born in Modugno 1 November 1985;
- Enrico Castellano, born in Ostuni 1 January 1942;
- Luciano Caterino, born in Ruvo di Puglia;
- Michele Corsini, born in Milan 20 February 1955;
- Albino De Nicolo, born in Terlizzi 23 January 1959;
- Salvatore Di Costanzo, born in Bergamo 2 November 1959;
- Giulia Favale, born in France 4 July 1965;
- Nicola Gaeta, born in Bari 16 January 1960;
- Jolanda Inchingolo, born in Andria 10 December 1991;
- Benedetta Merra, born in Andria 18 June 1964;
- Donata Pepe, born in Cerignola 3 October 1953;
- Maurizio Pisani, born in Pavia 26 August 1966;
- Fulvio Schinzari, born in Galatina 31 October 1957;
- Antonio Summo, born in Terlizzi 12 November 2001;
- Francesco Ludovico Tedone, born in Terlizzi;
- Gabriele Zingaro, born in Andria 30 October 1991.
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