Arden Geddes
The driver of a tram that derailed and crashed in central Milan on Friday said he began to feel sick just moments before tragedy struck.
The incident unfolded on Friday when the line nine tram slammed into a building in the heart of the city, killing two people and injuring 48 others.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the tragedy, but Milan Mayor Beppe Sala has suggested human error was to blame, saying the driver had apparently failed to switch the tracks to keep the tram going straight.
Speaking from his hospital bed, the unnamed driver told investigators he felt unwell before the crash occurred.
Sala described the driver as a seasoned employee who had only been on shift for an hour, but said he had skipped a prior stop before the collision.
Dashcam footage shows the train flipping onto its side as it takes the curve before slamming to a stop in a building.
Onlookers can be seen running down the street and exiting their vehicles towards the site of the crash.
The tram, one of the newest in operation in Milan, came off the tracks in Vittorio Veneto Street, close to the city’s Central Station.
Sala confirmed two people had been killed — one passenger on the tram and one on the street.
The victims have been identified as 59-year-old Ferdinando Favia, from Vigevano, and Senegal-born Abdou Kari Toure, 58.
One passenger on board the tram told ANSA news agency that the crash felt like an ‘earthquake’.
‘I thought it was an earthquake. I was sitting down and I fell to the floor, along with the other passengers. It was terrible,’ he said.
‘Luckily, I only hit my knee, but the man next to me was bleeding from his head.’
Another person involved said: ‘We heard something downstairs, then the tram derailed and we were all thrown around.
‘The tram veered, picked up some speed, and hit a building.’
It is not yet clear why the train came off the tracks in the city currently hosting its famous Fashion Week.
The Milan transport company, ATM, said in a statement it was ‘deeply shocked,’ expressed its sympathy to those affected and said it was working with authorities to try to understand the cause.
According to Italian news channel Rai News, a case for manslaughter and bodily harm will be opened due to routine by the on-duty prosecutor.
The tram was a new Tramlink model which had started operating in the city just days prior.
It is 25 metres long with three carriages and 66 seats.
A total of 74 Tramlink trams began running in Milan on February 20. They are expected to slowly replace older trams.
ATM reportedly invested 190 million euros into the new trams, which were manufactured by Spanish company Stadler Valencia.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk | Read the Full Story…
