Four people were killed and another three, one of them a young German girl, were in critical condition after a train crash 30km southeast of Budapest last Monday. Signal failure was initially blamed for the disaster, which prompted the resignation of the chairman of the board of state railway company MÁV and the transport minister.

A local passenger train crashed into the back of a Budapest-bound InterCity train from the eastern city of Debrecen. Residents in Monorierdo reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a cloud of dust and smoke rising over the railway line that runs past the village just before 10.30am last Monday. Rescue workers rushed to the scene and helicopters were called in to carry the more seriously injured victims to hospital.

A spokesman for the National Ambulance Service, Pál Györfi, told the state news agency MTI that two women and one man had died at the scene. By the afternoon, the death toll had risen to four. Several survivors sustained life-threatening injuries and were rushed to hospital. A further two dozen people who were less seriously hurt were given first aid on the spot and taken to hospital for check ups. It was reported the following day that a British woman was among those who sustained less serious injuries.

A spokesman for the state railway company MÁV, Tibor Sigulinszky, promptly admitted that the crash may have been caused by a signalling failure.

Rear-ended

Eyewitness reports suggest the InterCity train slowed down or stopped as it approached Monorierdo, and a shuttle train travelling on the same line from Cegléd to Budapest crashed into it from behind at around 70 kilometres per hour. Most of those who sustained serious injuries were travelling in the rear carriage of the InterCity train, although many more were hurt in carriages from the other train as its carriages were derailed.

The MÁV spokesman added that it is thought the driver of the InterCity may have braked legitimately in response to an erroneous stop signal. The driver of the other train survived the crash by rushing to the back of his engine. He subsequently told investigators that he had applied the emergency brakes when he saw the InterCity train ahead, then left his post as there was nothing else he could do.

The area around the crash site was closed off as rescue workers tried to free passengers trapped in the crumpled InterCity carriage and police and MÁV technical staff began an investigation into the cause of the disaster. The “black boxes” of both trains were recovered intact, and should soon cast some light on where the blame for the disaster lies.

Prompt resignations

Within hours of the disaster, Minister for Transport Pál Szabó and the head of board of directors of state-owned railway company MÁV Zrt tendered their resignations, which were accepted by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. The CEO of MÁV, István Heinczinger also offered to stand down, but Gyurcsány did not accept his resignation as the company cannot be left leaderless, he said. Heinczinger said that the results of an initial investigation into the crash should be out by the end of this week.

Secretary of state at the newly-created Ministry for Transport, Telecommunication and Energy, László Puch, announced that the families of the deceased will receive an immediate cash payment of HUF 400,000 (EUR 1,604). Parliament observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the crash the same day.