Poland mourns train crash victims
Baku, March 5 (AZERTAC). Poland has begun two days of national mourning after 16 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a train crash near the southern city of Krakow.
Flags are flying at half-mast on public buildings and some news websites, including Polish national radio and the daily Rzeczpospolita, are using only black-and-white pictures.Two rail traffic controllers are being questioned about the crash.
Two passenger trains crashed head-on near Szczekociny on Saturday night. There were 10 carriages in total, carrying about 350 passengers.
It is reported to be Poland`s worst train accident for 20 years.
One of those who died was a US citizen and the injured included citizens of the Czech Republic, Moldova and Ukraine, Polish officials said. Three of the injured are critically ill.
Rescuers are still scouring the wreckage, trying to find out why both trains came to be on the same track.
Investigators hope that statements from the drivers and data from the trains' black boxes will reveal whether human error was to blame.
The two officials being questioned were on duty at the time of the disaster. They have not been charged and prosecutors have given no further details about them.
Polish media reports suggest a set of points had been installed in the area in recent months and one of the lines of inquiry is that the points either failed or were not set correctly.
Alcohol tests on the railway workers on duty were said to be negative.
Polish radio says the regional train travelling north from Przemysl to Warsaw was powered by a very heavy locomotive and suffered much less damage than the southbound Warsaw-Krakow express train.
Transport Minister Slawomir Nowak insisted that Poland's railways were "still very safe" and said football fans planning to travel to Euro 2012 by train should not be put off. Poland and Ukraine will co-host the tournament this summer.
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