CELLE, Germany — According to a wire service, three German railroad engineers denied charges of negligent homicide over the deaths of 101 people in the country’s worst train disaster as their trial opened Wednesday, more than four years after the high-speed crash.
The three men listened in silence for nearly an hour as prosecutors at the converted council meeting room in Celle read out the names of the 101 people who were killed and the 105 injured when the InterCityExpress train derailed and slammed into a bridge pillar near the northern town of Eschede on June 3, 1998.
The train was traveling at about 200 kilometers an hour (125 mph) along the line between Hamburg and Hanover. Authorities believe the accident was caused by a broken wheel, which was exhibited in court Wednesday.
Prosecutors charge that the three defendants did not ensure the safety of the wheels, which had a rubber rim encased in steel. The accident prompted a change to solid steel wheels for the first generation of ICE trains, the type that derailed.
Joachim Thilo von Madeyski, 67, Volker Fischer, 56 and Franz Murawa, 55, all face 101 counts of negligent homicide and 105 counts of causing bodily harm. They could face prison sentences of up to five years if convicted.
The three — two former railroad employees who were in charge of wheel safety at the national railway and the manager of a firm that manufactures train wheels — rejected the charges against them in statements read out by defense lawyers.
The national railroad, Deutsche Bahn, said it had submitted expert opinions that would demonstrate that “the railroad and its engineers fully complied with the technical standards at the time” and called for the acquittal of the engineers. Defense lawyers have said the crash was a tragic accident but not a criminal offense.
No verdict is expected before late in the fall.
Going into the trial, attorney Reiner Geulen, who represents 74 people injured in the crash and survivors of those killed in a civil suit against Deutsche Bahn, said more people, including railway board head Roland Heinisch, should be held accountable.
Geulen reiterated accusations that the railway had shown “really very indecent and improper” behavior toward the victims of the crash with its offer of 30,000 marks (dlrs 15,000) each in compensation.
He said his lawsuit demanding 125,000 euros (dlrs 123,000) each would put the amount in line with what has been paid in other countries for similar accidents.
Some 36 attorneys were on hand representing the interests of survivors and families of those who died in the accident. The court excluded New York-based lawyer Ed Fagan from the trial, saying the attorney, best known for his effort to win compensation for former Nazi slave laborers, had not filed his complaint in German and was also not certified to practice in Germany.