Iran reveals cause of fatal train crash in Semnan Province

An Iranian official says an operator in charge of the Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) of Shahroud railway station was responsible for a fatal collision between two passenger trains in Iran’s north-central province of Semnan.

The head of a committee investigating the train crash, Akbar Torkan, told reporters on Saturday that a train moving from the northwestern city of Tabriz to the northeastern city of Mashhad had already stopped over its brakes failure.

The deadly incident occurred when the CTC operator allowed a second train, also en route to Mashhad, to depart in the same direction, he added.

Torkan, who was assigned by Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri to investigate the deadly train collision, emphasized that it was not an intentional fault but that a human error in practice of profession led to the disaster.

On November 25, a total of 45 people lost their lives and 103 others were injured in the deadly collision of two passenger trains in Semnan.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has offered his condolences over the crash and urged Iranian officials to prioritize efforts to tackle the root causes of such “painful incidents” and do their utmost to treat the injured and alleviate the sufferings of the bereaved families.

A day after the tragic incident, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) Mohsen Poor Seyyed Aqaei resigned.

Three employees of the state railroad company have already been arrested.