Material taken from Tempe crash site to be analyzed
The investigation of special appellate investigator Sotiris Baikamis into the deadly collision between a freight and a passenger train at Tempe in central Greece on February 28, 2023 is continuing with the appointment of a new expert – a specialist in oils and fuels – as well as orders for new sampling and chemical analysis of materials removed from the accident site.
Additionally, 15 CDs with security camera footage from the stations the freight train passed are en route to a laboratory in England in an effort to retrieve deleted content and obtain more details about the cargo on board.
Baikamis requested the Larissa Chemical Service on March 26 to take samples from the Pigadia Evangelismos location at Tempe, where soil and tree trunks from the crash site were deposited a year ago. The material was transported there just a few hours after the accident and remained at the site, unattended, until police supervision was requested a year later.
Baikamis noted that the materials were evidence in the ongoing investigation and should be examined for any chemicals “released during the violent collision between the two trains.”
However, experts representing victims’ families have expressed doubts as to whether the new investigations can contribute anything substantial to the case so long after the accident.
Bakaimis is also calling for the same site to be searched by specially trained dogs to establish whether there are any human remains, traces or biological material there. The new investigation ordered at the Pigadia station location has not yet begun and the investigator has requested that it be conducted within 15 days.
Another issue that has been linked to the explosion has been suggestions of an additional, undeclared, 14th wagon on the freight train, which may have contained the chemicals toluene or xylene.
