Polfer simulates the dynamics of the accident on the computer. Perhaps the “track circuit” that causes the train to slow down had been deactivated

Massacre of Brandizzo, four seconds to die: “The curve, then a flash. It was impossible to save himself”
by Elisa Solo
Massacre of Brandizzo, four seconds to die: “The curve, then a flash. It was impossible to save himself”
(handle)
Polfer simulates the dynamics of the accident on the computer. Perhaps the “track circuit” that causes the train to slow down had been deactivated

04 SEPTEMBER 2023 AT 01:00
2 MINUTES OF READING

A beacon of light on the half curve. The train that appears, darting from Chivasso, at the turning point that precedes the straight line where the station begins. Only four seconds would have passed, on the night of August 30, from the moment in which the freight train appears on the horizon to the moment in which it overwhelms the five workers. They were from behind. They have not seen or heard of it. One of the two survivors – the foreman Andrea Gibin – hit by the beacon of light and the vortex of air, saved himself by diving to the side. In four seconds, maybe one more.

Five days after the massacre, Polfer agents – who are investigating coordinated by the Ivrea prosecutor’s office – collected a mass of material. There are images from the cameras showing the victims at work and recordings of phone calls between Rfi technicians who confirm that they were operating despite there being no authorization. Evidence that was sufficient to enter Antonio Massa, the technician with the role of “escort” of Rfi and Gibin himself in the register of suspects.

Polfer’s checks also continue, useful for reconstructing the fatal impact in every detail. In recent days, at the site of the disaster, it has been estimated that about four seconds would have passed from the point on the track where the five workers were (who were in the middle) to the one where the train was glimpsed. An estimate that takes into account convoy speed and distance. Most likely, even if Kevin Laganà, Michael Zanera, Giuseppe Sorvillo, Giuseppe Aversa and Saverio Giuseppe Lombardo had heard the train coming from behind them, there wouldn’t have been time to turn around and run away.

Tragedy was inevitable. Not only did they not see the beacon of light piercing the darkness, they probably didn’t even hear it. “If you’re in the center of the track, you don’t hear any noise, it’s different if you’re positioned to the side,” says a railway technician.

Meanwhile, the judicial police and prosecutors coordinated by the prosecutor Gabriella Viglione are preparing, starting today, to hear other witnesses. One of the points of the investigation concerns the alleged practice (only presumed, for the prosecutor) of starting work in advance of the arrival of written authorization. Among those who will be heard as people informed about the facts, there are the (and former) workers of Sigifer. The former colleagues of the victims who know well the mechanisms of the system of those who do maintenance every evening, after 11pm and before four.

Not only. The prosecutor also ordered the police to check, in general, all the safety procedures and protection systems of the railway line. It seems certain that the so-called “track circuit” did not work that night. The system provides for the alarm to go off when someone is above the rail, triggering the signal that causes the train to slow down or stop. On the night of August 30, none of this happened. Was there a fault? Or was it normal for the circuit not to activate? There is also the hypothesis that the workers, by disassembling pieces of the tracks, had deactivated something, in order to be able to carry out the foreseen operations.

They did nothing wrong, the five technicians. They were prepared and valued. They followed orders. “The green light was there,” said Andrea Gibin, the foreman, in shock. At Sigifer nobody talks. The investigation is ongoing. In recent days, during a meeting in the company, the top management expressed “sorrow” for the loss of five workers. And they would have said: «If it is our fault, we will pay. But the fault is not ours, there was the ok from Rfi ».