Clash between trains in Puglia: for the judges it was “human error”. Two convictions and 14 acquittals

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You see me – “human error”. Surprisingly, and amid the objections of the families of the victims after reading the disposition (“You killed them again”), the Trani court bench debunked the accusatory argument that the top management of Ferrotramviaria was involved in the train disaster of July 12, 2016 (23 dead and 51 injured), condemning rail operators and acquitted 14 other people.

So, for Andrea station chief Vito Piccaretta, who started the train who instead had to stay at the station awaiting the arrival of the other from Corato, was sentenced to manslaughter and false physical bonds of 6 years and 6 months. For Nicola Lorezo, sentenced to 7 years for manslaughter, in the role of the train conductor (who escaped death) of the convoy involved in the collision that should not have left, and therefore responsible for not checking the presence of the train from Corato at the station. . Both were also ordered to pay compensation, jointly with Ferrotramviaria, for the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages to the plaintiffs.

Absolution for the leaders of Ferrotramviaria

Ferrotramviaria’s owner, Enrico Maria Pasquini, and general manager, Massimo Nitti, were acquitted of non-compliance, as were the other defendants who were also acquitted, with the same motive, for non-compliance, or because the offense did not constitute a crime.

Prosecution requests

For the disaster that occurred on the Corato-Andria line operated by Ferrotramviaria, the Public Prosecutor, through the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Republic, Renato Nitti, asked the court to issue prison sentences of 12 to 6 years and an acquittal. The top management of the company was accused, for various reasons, of a series of breaches of coordinating, organizing, managing and controlling duties which would have contributed to the railway disaster. Along with the ruling, there is also an administrative fine of 1.1 million, in addition to the revocation of permits, licenses and privileges to carry out the activity, including the safety certificate, for a period of one year. Finally, he also requested the forfeiture of 664 thousand euros, an amount that, according to the prosecution, the company was supposed to invest to secure the section with the construction and use of mass-counting axes on the Corato-Barletta.

He denied the accusation

The conviction of the operators and the acquittal of senior management thus negates all the accusatory proposition that, besides the direct liability in terms of human error of Ferrotramviaria employees, there was also an organizational responsibility of senior management to report failed checks linked to a lack of investment in safety.