Zagreb and Split police have arrested several people in connection with the train accident which left 6 people dead and more than 50 injured

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SPLIT, CROATIA – Police have began the second phase of investigation of the tragedy near the Croatian coastal city of Split when six people were killed and more than 50 injured as a train detailed on its way to the summer resort on Friday. Criminal police in Zagreb and Split called in eight people from the Croatian Railways company for questioning. Unofficial sources said that after questioning, Ivan Medak, the director of ecology and protection at the Croatian Railways company and three other people from the company have been arrested.

Police in Split are also carrying out intense investigative measures into the tilting train derailment and according to the first information, three people have been arrested, but their identities have not been revealed. According to the Jutarnji list daily, Ivan Tomaskovic, the owner of the Intrade company from which the Croatian Railways bought the anti-corrosive substance for railway tracks which is the most probable cause of the accident, has been arrested, as well as Tihomir Grgec and Drago Rogulj, the head of the Split branch of the Croatian Railways.

Abuse of office
As Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko said on Sunday, the investigation is based on finding people responsible for the procurement and use of the substance for the protection of the railway tracks which, according to forensic experts, is the cause of the train derailment.

First suspicions fell on Ivan Medak and Tihomir Grgec who is the head of procurement for the railways.

According to the Vecernji list daily, Medak did not wish to comment on the police investigation. Police are apparently charging him for abusing his position in the Croatian railways company and signed a deal on the procurement of the protective substance without the knowledge of his superiors. It has also been determined that the substance was ineptly used on the tracks.

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The spokesperson of the NPFA, Peg O’Brien said that the company’s logo is often illegally used by some distributors whilst advertising their retardant.

After the train accident near Kastela, which killed six people and injured dozens, there was immediate speculation that the chemical substance sprayed on the tracks used to prevent fire was responsible for the accident.

“We do no issue certificates, we define the safety standards and norms” said spokesperson O’Briren for Vecernji List.

It turns out that that claims by the director of Intrade, Ivan Tomaskovic, who mentioned the NPFA certificate, are incorrect. He says that the he uses the TG-300 and “California Amtrak Rail Systems”.

Americans deny Tomaskovic’s claims

However, O’Brien says that Amtrak does not maintain the tracks.

According to Tomaskovic, the company Intrade gained the job at a legally carried out public competition, and that the substance was applied according to the manufacturer’s instructions, under supervision by HZ (Croatian Railways).

Remember, the train that travels between Zagreb and Split slipped of the tracks on July 24, around 12:10pm in Rudine, which is near Kastela. Six people were killed and 55 were injured. The cause of the tragedy will be known next week, and there is a possibility that an axle broke.

On Saturday around 2pm, workers started to extract the train from the scene of the crash, and the composition will first be moved to Kastela, and then to Zagreb. Regular train traffic between Zagreb and Split should start on Monday.