The European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating possible fraud in the maintenance of the high-speed rail line following the accident in Adamuz.
The judge has detected 42 meters of track removed by Adif without permission
BarcelonaThe European Public Prosecutor's Office will also investigate the tragic train accident in Adamuz, Córdoba. in which 46 people died on January 18thSpecifically, the European Union Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into possible fraud involving European funds in the maintenance of the high-speed rail line connecting Madrid and Seville, the section where the accident occurred. "This exceptional confirmation comes after significant public interest. No further details will be made public at this stage," stated the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Madrid. This EU body is responsible for investigating crimes that may affect the EU's financial interests. In this case, according to EFE, the investigation seeks to determine whether there was embezzlement and misappropriation of European aid in the use of European funds. SER reports that the investigation is looking into whether there was misappropriation in the management of the more than €100 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) allocated to these works. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has confirmed that the European Public Prosecutor's Office has been investigating the accident since it occurred. In his opinion, the agency intervenes in "all cases involving European funds." "For whatever reason, it's being presented today as a major development, but it isn't," he stated in a social media post. On January 30, European prosecutors Luis Miguel Jiménez Crespo and Juan José Navas Blánquez requested from the Ministry of Transport "all signed contracts and the corresponding file numbers related to the section of the railway network where the accident occurred." Meanwhile, the investigation into the causes of the accident is being conducted by an investigating court in Andalusia.
Currently, the judge in charge of the investigation into the causes of the accident is José Luis Calama of the National Court, who was appointed as the judge of guarantees in the investigation. This means he will be responsible for overseeing compliance with the rights of the parties involved in this investigation by the European Prosecutor's Office, which is in its initial phase. This same week, a technical report included in the draft analysis by the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF) was made public. It reinforces the hypothesis that a track failure caused the derailment of the trains involved, an Iryo high-speed train with over 300 kilometers on the line. This document, from Hitachi, the company responsible for the signaling system, and already submitted to the CIAF, reveals a "voltage drop in the track circuit" approximately 22 hours before the incident, consistent with a track failure, which is the investigators' main hypothesis regarding the cause of the accident.
Adif defends its custody of tracks
As part of the ongoing investigation in Spain into the causes of the accident, Judge Cristina Pastor of Montoro has discovered 42 meters of track that had been removed from the crash site without her permission. Following an on-site inspection on Tuesday, March 17, the judge ordered the judicial police to seal and secure the 42 meters of track that had been removed from the scene without prior notification to the judicial authorities. An additional 36 meters of track, which were already known to the authorities, are currently at the Adif facilities in Hornachuelos (Córdoba). In a statement, Adif responded that Adif personnel "explained" to the judge that, in addition to the track replacement that had been reported, "another section of track was replaced" in February as part of "maintenance work." Adif clarified that the replaced material is "in safekeeping" and at the "disposal" of the judicial investigation and the CIAF (Railway Accident Investigation Commission).
