National
Second court investigation archives Valencia metro tragedy
By m.p.
Dec 19, 2007 - 10:26 PM

Instruction Court No. 21 in Valencia, which accepted appeals by 12 of the families affected by the Valencia metro tragedy in July last year to reopen the case, has decided to archive the investigation. Forty three people died and 47 were injured when a train derailed on Line 1 of the metro system on 3rd July last year.

This new ruling echoes a previous court decision that there could be no criminal responsibility for the tragedy, as the only person considered at fault was the train driver who died in the accident.

The judge who heads Instruction Court 21 said the determining factor in the derailment was the train’s speed, and said evidence showed that safety devices on the line were working as they should.

The families of the victims have the right of appeal against this latest decision, and have said they will do so to the highest authority possible. The President of the Victims Association for the Metro accident, Emilio Chulio, whose wife died that day, told EFE that there hasn’t appeared to be any true desire on the part of the Valencia justice system to get to the bottom of the accident from the start, and challenged the belief that the only cause was excessive speed.