"A passenger train slammed into the rear of an InterCity train at Monorierdő, 40km southeast of Budapest, Monday morning, killing three passengers and injuring 27 others. A fourth passenger died in hospital later in the day.Transport Minister Pál Szabó and state railway company MÁV chairman Miklós Kamarás have resigned.
MÁV spokesman Tibor Sigulinszki told reporters that the InterCity train bound from Nyíregyháza to Budapest had slowed down or stopped at a level crossing due to a faulty safety shunting when the passenger train coming from Cegléd slammed into it. The driver of the latter train avoided injury by running towards the back of the locomotive when he saw that the accident was inevitable. All four of those killed had been riding on the InterCity train.
MÁV CEO István Heinczinger said an inquiry will need several months to find out what caused the crash. An official statement released by MÁV said a faulty gear on the switch may have been the cause. Spokesman Sigulinszki said the signal had indeed not been functioning, but the engine drivers had been aware of that and should have proceeded in a circumspect manner.
Heinczinger also offered his resignation, but Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány did not accept it, saying that such a large company as MÁV cannot be left without a chief executive. Transport Minister Szabó has been in office for just five months, having been appointed when the Free Democrats left the ruling coalition earlier this year. He will remain in office until a successor is found, Kossuth Rádió reported.
Eight fire engines and 30 fire-fighters took part in the salvage operation, pulling passengers out of the train through the windows while a rescue team used prying and cutting tools to cut through the train carriages that had telescoped into one another.
The Hungarian Red Cross issued an appeal after the accident calling for blood donations to help the severely injured passengers.
Gyurcsány conveyed his condolences on behalf of the cabinet to the families of the dead and injured at an impromptu press briefing in Parliament Monday. Heinczinger told MTV Monday night that MÁV wants to provide aid to the families of the dead.
The most deadly train accident in Hungarian history occurred on December 2, 1994, when 31 passengers were killed as a carriage of an express train running between Nyíregyháza and Budapest derailed at Szajol station."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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07.10.2008