Jose Carlos Rodriguez |
Santiago de Compostela, (EFE).- On the tenth anniversary of one of the most serious railway accidents in Spain, the one that took place on July 24, 2013 in Angrois, at the entrance to Santiago, the criminal responsibility and the causes that led to that tragedy, in which 80 people died and almost a hundred and a half were injured, are still to be elucidated.
In the middle of the Apostle’s festivities, back in 2013, an Alvia train that came from the Chamartín station in Madrid, bound for Ferrol, derailed at the A Grandeira curve, in Angrois, a few kilometers from the Compostela station.
The event shocked the entire Galician and Spanish society and even had its echo internationally. Of the 224 people traveling on board, 80 lost their lives and 144 were injured of varying degrees.
Various factors influenced the causes of the accident, but what has been confirmed is that the convoy was traveling at a speed of almost 190 kilometers per hour in a section that was limited to 80, thus exceeding almost twice the speed allowed.
The engineer on board the train, Francisco José Garzón Amo, noticed the speeding too late and although he tried to brake, it was already too late.
He survived the accident and is now one of those accused of this event, together with the former security director of Adif Andrés Cortabitarte. For both, the majority of the parties involved in the case request four years in prison for 80 crimes of reckless homicide and 145 crimes of injuries due to serious professional negligence.
Justice will rule this year
Ten years after the tragedy, it is expected that 2023 will be the year in which justice finally rules on the responsibility of the accident and the implications of Renfe and Adif in it, as well as that the compensation by insurers will be determined both for the relatives of the fatalities and for the people who survived the accident.
After an investigation phase that started in 2013 and ended in 2015, Judge Andrés Lago closed the case with the sole accusation of the driver. However, in 2016 and after learning about reports and various evidence related to the sad episode, the Provincial Court of A Coruña reopened the investigation, with the aim of verifying whether there were other responsibilities related to security on the Ourense-Santiago high-speed line.
In 2017, the former director of traffic security at Adif Andrés Cortabitarte was charged. This new phase of investigation lasted until 2021. A year later, in 2022, the Alvia macro-trial would begin, a hearing that started last October in the City of Culture due to the high number of parties in person.
A file with more than 44,460 pages
The main file of the trial is made up of 44,460 pages, which are divided into 95 volumes. For months, from October to February -in the criminal phase- and from February to June -in the civil phase- almost 700 people have testified, including witnesses, expert witnesses and experts.
In charge of the case is the magistrate María Elena Fernández Currás, the one in charge of issuing a sentence that has been waiting for a decade.
There are barely two trial sessions left, which since June has been facing the documentary process and the conclusions of the parties.
The driver, Francisco Garzón, is blamed by most of the parties for recklessness and for “neglecting driving” when answering a telephone call from the controller that was “inconsequential” and that lasted “for 100 seconds”, causing Garzón to lose control of the train.
On the other hand, the former director of Adif Andrés Cortabitarte is accused of being responsible for the derailment for not carrying out the risk analysis of the line between Ourense and Santiago, not having taken the necessary precautions to protect the track and disconnecting the ERTMS security system on board, which would have prevented the accident.
The surprise came with the final conclusions of the Prosecutor’s Office
The defenses of both have based their strategy during these months on blaming the other. The surprise came when in its brief of conclusions the Public Ministry decided to withdraw the accusation against Cortabitarte and keep only that of Garzón.
Prosecutor Mario Piñeiro stated that the former director of Adif complied with the protocols of the public company and expressed his “doubts” about his criminal responsibility in the face of events that, according to his criteria, were produced solely by human error, committed by Garzón.
However, the vast majority of the lawyers who defend the victims have maintained both accusations and consider that the change of criteria of the Prosecutor’s Office is a State strategy to protect itself from a possible conviction against a high-ranking Adif official, which could also splash the Spanish railway administrator.
The remaining two days will be key. Both the Alvia Victims Platform 04155 and the Association of People Injured by the Alvia Rail Accident in Santiago de Compostela (Apafas) trust the judge’s criteria, that justice be done and that both defendants are sentenced.
Machinist and ex-manager of ADIF will be able to express themselves again
The trial will end next Thursday, at which time the defendants’ lawyers will present their reports of conclusions. In addition, both Cortabitarte and Garzón will have one last opportunity to speak.
Garzón has repeatedly apologized to the victims, while Cortabitarte remains suspicious, considering that he had no responsibility for the tragedy.
For the surviving victims of the accident and the relatives of the deceased, acknowledging the facts and doing justice means “reparation”, which, although it is late, somehow, they allege, allows them to move on with their lives.