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Friday, May 23, 2008 - Web posted at 9:24:57 GMT Deadly train accident caused by oversight CHRISTOF MALETSKYBRAKE failure, because the vacuum pipe between the locomotive and the first wagon was not connected, led to the TransNamib train crash in which the driver died in August last year. |
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The chairperson of the commission which investigated the accident, lawyer Phillip Ellis, told the media yesterday that the train relied solely on the braking power of the locomotive while descending towards Gammams, south of Windhoek. Driver Sidney Coetzee died in the accident and his assistant, George Sankandi, was injured. "The failure to connect the vacuum pipe between the locomotive and the first wagon was due to an oversight and remained undetected until such time as the train started gaining momentum on the decline between Kruin and Gammams, whereafter it was not possible to stop the train and the derailment was inevitable," Ellis said. The train accident occurred on August 28, some 10 kilometres south of Windhoek near the Heroes' Acre. The locomotive pulling eight wagons, which carried 500 tons of ballast stones, derailed and overturned. Ellis said Coetzee had informed the radio control clerk in Windhoek shortly before the accident that he could not find braking on the train and that he tried everything to brake but to no avail. The train rapidly gained momentum due to the weight of its load and the steepness of the decline, resulting in a derailment. Ellis said the wheels of the locomotive were extremely hot and the smell caused by the friction of the wheels was still hanging in the air when the first people got to the scene. In sharp contrast, the wheels of all the wagons were cold. "No indication could be found of any heat caused by friction as a result of braking," he said. The panel found that the "most probable" cause of the accident was the total lack of braking power on the wagons of the train. TransNamib Chief Executive Officer Titus Haimbili said the health and safety department would analyse the report and copies were also forwarded to the Ministry of Works. Coetzee's family was also informed of the outcome. "We will take preventive measures," Haimbili said when asked what the company's next steps would be. The Health Inspector at the Ministry of Labour, Ileni Shikwambi, expressed dissatisfaction with the sluggish pace of the investigation and called on the company to hasten the process in future. Ellis said an investigation took as long as it required. "Some matters take years before you get to the bottom. Our attitude was to determine the probable cause of accident," he said, adding that it did not make sense to prescribe the length of an investigation. |
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