Human error seen as cause of German maglev train crash
Afp, Lathen
Investigators were working yesterday on the basis that human error caused a futuristic magnetic levitation train to crash in Germany, killing 23 people and setting back efforts to market the system. The train, known as the Transrapid, was travelling at about 170km per hour on an elevated concrete monorail test track when it collided with a maintenance vehicle on Friday. Although the Transrapid train remained on its track, the green and white service vehicle appeared to have been lifted on to the roof of the Transrapid by the force of the impact, photographs showed. Two of the dead were US citizens who were visiting Germany while 11 German employees of an energy company were also killed, prosecutor Alexander Retemeyer said. Ten people survived the crash and although some have serious injuries, their lives are not in danger. Prosecutors said the collision in Lathen near the border with the Netherlands was caused by human error, possibly because of a breakdown in radio communication.
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