President Mattarella Attends 10th Anniversary Ceremony for Deadly Train Crash

Italian President Sergio Mattarella is in Andria today to attend a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of a devastating train crash that occurred on July 12, 2016. The collision, which claimed the lives of 23 people and left 51 injured, took place on a single-track section of the Andria-Corato line operated by Ferrotramviaria.

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President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, is expected this morning in Andria to participate in the decennial ceremony of the railway disaster of July 12, 2016, in which 23 people lost their lives and another 51 were injured.

The accident was the result of "human error," as determined by first and second-instance court rulings. The station master in Andria, Vito Piccarreta, and the conductor of the train departing from Andria, Nicola Lorizzo, received sentences of 6 years and 3 months, and 6 years and 9 months in prison, respectively. However, Ferrotramviaria was cleared of administrative wrongdoing, and 14 other defendants were acquitted.

The legal proceedings are not yet fully concluded, with the Court of Cassation scheduled to review the case on October 7. The crash occurred when, according to the prosecution, the Andria station master authorized the departure of a train from Corato at 10:45 AM without waiting for the arrival of another train that had departed from Andria at 11:00 AM. The head-on impact occurred at high speed at 11:05 AM.

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The incident occurred on the single-track section between Andria and Corato, managed at the time with the telephone block system.

Following the tragedy, the affected rail line was closed and only reopened on April 3, 2023, after the installation of a double-track system equipped with modern automated safety systems. The ceremony today is attended by the victims' families, regional president Antonio Decaro, and local authorities.

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The collision between the two trains occurred due to 'human error,' as established by first and second-instance rulings.