BBC News Online: World: Europe

Broken wheel caused German train crash

A director of the government watchdog, the Federal Railways Office, told a parliamentary committee in Bonn of the series of events that caused the train to derail at 200 kph (125 mph), slamming into a bridge that then collapsed.

Hans-Heinrich Grauf told the committee that the wheel broke due to an inner crack, about six kilometres from the site of the accident in the north of the country.

Mr Grauf said that after the broken wheel caused the train to derail, some of the carriages slipped under the overpass.

When one of the carriages slammed into the overpass, the bridge collapsed and the remaining carriages piled into each other.

Accident-free for seven years

Until the crash, the country's InterCity Express (ICE) trains had travelled the railway lines as a model of German technological prowess without an accident for seven years.

Since the accident the EBA watchdog has forced German railways to pull 59 ICE trains that were built in 1991 from service no less than three times for comprehensive testing.

"The railway has done everything in its power to ensure the safety of passengers," Deutsche Bahn railway chairman Johannes Ludewig told the committee.

The German transport minister, Matthias Wissmann, promised a full inquiry into the causes of the accident.

"Nothing will be swept under the carpet; nothing will be glossed over," he said.

In this section

Violence greets Clinton visit
Russian forces pound Grozny
EU fraud: a billion dollar bill
Next steps for peace
Cardinal may face loan-shark charges
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
Trans-Turkish pipeline deal signed
French party seeks new leader
Jube tube debut
Athens riots for Clinton visit
UN envoy discusses Chechnya in Moscow
Solana new Western European Union chief
Moldova's PM-designate withdraws
Chechen government welcomes summit
In pictures: Clinton's violent welcome
Georgia protests over Russian 'attack'
UN chief: No Chechen 'catastrophe'
New arms control treaty for Europe
Mannesmann fights back (From Business)
EU fraud -- a billion-dollar bill
New moves in Spain's terror scandal
EU allows labelling of British beef
UN seeks more security in Chechnya
Athens riots for Clinton visit
Russia's media war over Chechnya
Homeless suffer as quake toll rises
Analysis: East-West relations must shift