Judge refuses to reopen Valencia metro crash case A CALL to reopen the trial over the devastating underground train crash in Valencia in 2006 has been thrown out by the city court. The prosecutor in charge of the case applied to the Court of Instruction number 21 for investigations into the metro accident, which made international breaking news after killing 43 people and leaving another 47 injured, to restart in response to popular demand. According to the judge, no new evidence or legal argument justifying the reopening of the case has come to light, although this verdict is open to appeal. Survivors, and relatives of those who died in the crash on the central Line 1, which leads from Valencia North Station and eventually to the airport – although the track extension to the airport was not open back then, on July 3, 2006 – have always claimed there had been a cover-up in the initial analysis. The Valencian regional Parliament claimed, after a full investigation, that the driver, who also died in the accident, had been travelling too fast. But accident survivors and families of the deceased said a speed-hump on the track would have prevented this and made it impossible for the train to be breaking the speed limit. They also said the train had derailed at least once prior to crashing. However, the judge said these claims had not been backed up by an independent engineering consultant. The Association of Victims of the July 3 Metro Crash (AVM3J) are staging demonstrations on the third day of every month in the city-centre Plaza de la Virgen, where they have so far been joined by thousands of Valencia residents, calling for the case to be reopened. Source: Think Spain
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 07:45:35 +0000
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