GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The cause of the bus crash that killed 28 people 13 March in Sierre, and injured 24 others, was most likely human error or a technical problem, the public prosecutor in charge of the case insists, despite media stories making the rounds that the driver may have been inserting a DVD or have been distracted by a teacher who brought the DVD to the front of the bus, information the chief investigator denies.
Two parents of children who were injured have reportedly told media that the children say a one of the teachers had gone to the front of the bus to hand the DVD to the driver.
A team of investigators that includes a specialist in interviewing children in police cases will be traveling from Switzerland to Belgium next week to interview the children as part of the effort to understand what went wrong.
Olivier Elsig, who is heading the investigation, says that while recovering children have said they saw the menu for a movie come up on the screen shortly before the crash, there is no evidence nor does he have any reports that someone had moved to the front of the bus. Film footage from the tunnel shortly before the crash shows all the adults seated at the front of the bus.
The cause of the crash remains unclear, but Elsig Friday 16 March issued a statement making a number of points:
Technical investigations
- Investigators are completing the mapping of the scene and analyzing recovered traces of the accident
- Video footage have made it possible to follow the path of the bus: they exclude an initial crash on the left side of the tunnel as well as the involvement of another vehicle
- Several documents about the buses and their drivers have been received in Valais and are being reviewed
- Tachygraph disk scanning will allow investigators to determine the precise speed of the bus; the first images appear to show the bus going under the speed limit, which is 100kph in the tunnel
- The technical check of the bus is underway; experts are being selected who will ultimately determine if the vehicle had any defects.
Interviews
- People who were driving near the bus before the accident, and who contacted police, are still being interviewed
- A dozen of the children who were injured have been interviewed and no information has turned up that would make it possible to determine the causes(s) of the accident: this includes the theory of a moment of inattention while linked to a DVD being inserted – none of the witnesses saw the driver making such moves.
The autopsy
Partial autopsy results (further analyses are being done) show that:
- it appears the driver died from trauma injuries
- no presence of alcohol was found in his system
- no pre-existing pathology or other element has turned up to encourage the idea he may have had a sudden health problem.
Causes of the accident
Two theories remain:
- a technical cause linked to a vehicle defect
- human cause as a result of error or a moment’s inattention.
© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
A collapsing wall at Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan injured more than 130 fans and killed 19 before a World Cup qualifier match Sunday 29 March. Officials decided to continue with the match between Ivory Coast and Malawi where Ivory Coast won 5-0. Ivory Coast’s President Laurent Gbagbo declared three days of national mourning and are investigating the cause of the accident. BBC
Two of Rio de Janeiro’s famous favelas, sprawling slums, are being walled in by the Brazilian government to keep them from spreading further, a move which is causing some concern because it could worsen the rich/poor divide. The government plans to build 11 km of walls by the end of the year, reports Reuters, and it argues that it’s building new homes for people in the favelas, not closing them off.
