Train signal officer played games during crash

A signals control officer at the centre of a fatal train crash in Germany two months ago has been accused of playing a computer game at the time of the collision.

Berlin - A signals control officer at the centre of a fatal train crash in southern Germany two months ago has been taken into custody accused of playing a computer game at the time of the collision.

Prosecutors in the southern Germany city of Rosenheim said on Tuesday they had issued an arrest warrant for negligent homicide against the dispatcher.

They accused him of playing a computer game on his mobile phone at the time of the collision between two trains, which is one of the worst rail accidents in German history.

Four train drivers as well as seven passengers were killed and 85 were injured in the February crash near the town of Bad Aibling.

The signals officer confessed that he was playing a computer game at the time of the collision, prosecutors said.

Investigators said that it was assumed that “the accused was distracted” from controlling the trains. As a result, he had given the trains false signals, they said.

ANA-dpa

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