A lengthy report by the fire brigade’s special arson unit reportedly rules out damage from an ignited flammable material on the second electric locomotive powering the freight train in the deadly two-train Tempi collision.

The second locomotive had been hauled away from the crash site and later located at a scrap yard, where arson experts poured over the wreckage. The first locomotive had been accounted for from the very start of the investigation.

The report casts further doubt on a widespread theory that emerged in the wake of the rail accident in late February 2023, namely, that the south-bound freight train was carrying an undetermined amount of contraband cargo – solvents, xylene etc. – which ignited during the two-train collision and contributed to the death of passengers of the north-bound passenger train. A total of 57 passengers and crew members died in the disaster.

The initial findings in the aftermath of the crash, which occurred just south of the Tempi rail tunnel, pointed to human error in putting two trains on a direct collision course.

The “xylene theory” itself spun accusations of a “coverup” by the government and the two ill-fated trains’ private operator, Hellenic Train, generating high-pitched criticism by opposition parties and widespread public opinion displeasure and dismay. The rail network in Greece is owned and managed by the state-run Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE). It was a station master working at the Larissa hub who directed the north-bound train into the south-bound line in order to bypass a short stretch of out-of-service tracks. He allegedly failed to re-direct the passenger train back onto its correct tracks.

The current government, as well as previous ones, were also sharply accused of failing to install partially EU-funded signaling and monitory systems along the main north-south two-track line, which possibly could have prevented the human error from causing catastrophic results.

The findings of the report were cited in a post by local media in Larissa, the biggest city adjacent to the Tempi disaster site.

A separate analysis conducted by the General Chemical State Laboratory is pending and will, by all accounts, conclude the major judicial investigation underway, a precursor to a filed indictment containing misdemeanor and felony charges against several individuals.