Fatal crash
February 16, 2010
Train drivers in Belgium have gone on strike one day after a deadly train collision near Brussels, which killed 18 people and injured over 100. Investigations into the crash resumed Tuesday.
The drivers said they were protesting against poor working conditions, which could have been a factor in the Monday crash. Rail unions said the Tuesday stoppage was spontaneously organized, and that they were not behind the action.
Belgian rail company SNCB said the strike would lead to widespread cancellations and delays.
Domestic and international rail services had already been badly affected by the crash. High-speed train operators Thalys and Eurostar cancelled services to and from Belgium, while links with France, Germany and the Netherlands were shut down for a second day on Tuesday.
Probe continues
Meanwhile, investigators are continuing their efforts to piece together the events leading to the crash in the town of Halle, just outside Brussels.
Rescue efforts were also resumed Tuesday amid fears that more bodies could be uncovered in the wreckage.
"I cannot exclude that we might find more corpses in the course of the salvage operation," a Belgian official told news agency dpa.
The trains' black boxes are to be examined to determine whether human error, weather conditions or mechanical failure were to blame.
Belgian rail officials said police would begin questioning the engineer of one of the trains involved in the crash, news agency AP reported.
Reports said that one of the trains had failed to stop at a red light before colliding head-on with another commuter train at high speed.
The train line on which the accident occurred was fitted with a security system designed to automatically halt trains at a stop sign. An SNCB official said one of the trains was not equipped with the system.
dfm/AP/dpa/AFP
Editor: Nancy Isenson