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A crane lifts part of a high-speed train
that crashed near Lathen, Sept. 22, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)
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Related: At least 21 killed in German magnetic
train accident
BEIJING, Sept. 25 -- Clean up continues at the site
of a deadly crash between a high-tech magnetic-levitation train and a
maintenance vehicle in northwest Germany.
The crash left twenty-three people dead.
People in the town of Lathen and the surrounding area
are still trying to come to terms with the accident.
The state prosecutor, Alexander Retemeyer, says it's
unclear why the train had been allowed to enter a section of track where the
maintenance vehicle was - adding that the accident was due to human error...
Meanwhile, the German inventor of the train insists
that the technology that the "Transrapid" Maglev uses is safe.
Hans Georg Raschbichler, inventor of Tran rapid train
said, "The Transrapid is the safest train system, and travels in a secured route
when in use. This is due to the system's technology - the motor is housed in
separate sections of the track, so a second train cannot come into contact with
the Transrapid. That means that this tragic accident doesn't have anything to do
with the possibilities of the system."
The train rides on a track supported by concrete
stilts around five meters above the ground, and wasn't derailed in the accident.
Officials said its height above ground had made the
rescue operation difficult.
The costly Maglev train set a speed record of four
hundred and fifty kilometers per hour in 1993.
(Source: CCTV.com)
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