Tempe accident reports released

Εngine oils, specifically silicone oils, could have created the large explosion and fireball that followed the deadly train crash at Tempe, central Greece, in February 2023, according to a new expert report on the accident published on Tuesday. The silicone oils are found in an electrical train’s traction transformers, which power the alternate current traction motors of the train as well as auxiliary systems such as electric heating and lighting. The report, commissioned by appellate investigating magistrate Sotiris Bakaimis, and authored by professor Dimitris Karonis from the National Technical University of Athens, aimed to discover what caused the huge fireball that followed the collision and was recorded on camera footage. Karonis had been criticized by several victims’ relatives and others for a supposed undue delay in compiling the report. The report notes that silicone oils, generally considered safe, can become flammable at temperatures exceeding 330 degrees Celsius and that the severe collision created conditions that could produce such temperatures. Karonis based his findings on analyses and data from the General State Chemical Laboratory, on-site inspections, material sampling from the accident scene, and international scientific data. While Karonis’ report is carefully couched in terms of probabilities, a second report, also delivered on Tuesday, by NTUA professor Petros Tsakiridis, debunks conspiracy theories of allegedly illegally transported materials on the freight train being the cause of the explosion. The report found that parts of the cab and the frames of the electric locomotive were not burned and therefore do not indicate an explosion. They only bear deformations from impact caused by the collision of the two trains, which were mistakenly put on the same track by a stationmaster. The collision, shortly before midnight on February 28, 2023, resulted in 57 deaths, the most ever in a train crash in Greece. Many were university students attending the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki and returning there. Opposition parties generally focused their response on hitting back at government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis for aggressively demanding public apologies from the opposition for trafficking in conspiracy theories and highlighting reports, some of which were issued by persons of dubious expertise.