Poland probes abandoned wagon on railway tracks
Poland's special services and prosecutors are investigating the case of a cargo wagon abandoned at one of the largest railway junctions in Poland, the infrastructure minister has said.
The daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Thursday that on the night of September 2 to 3, a 20-tonne coal wagon had been found empty on the trainline 141 in Katowice Ligota in southern Poland.
"The coal wagon did not detach itself; someone expertly relocated the end-of-train signal to the second-to-last wagon," the newspaper wrote.
Rzeczpospolita has found that the train hauling the wagon operated for the ArcelorMittal steelmaker giant and was traveling from Dabrowa Gornicza to the coal mine in Szczyglowice and that the trainline was also used by passenger trains "due to a major railway investment."
On Friday, Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak told the private broadcaster TVN24 that the railway commission that routinely investigates railway accidents had referred the case to the special services.
He added that the prosecutor's office, "which is very reserved when it comes to making announcements," was also probing the matter, which he believes is understandable given the circumstances.
"It was definitely not an accident," Klimczak said when asked if the wagon ended up on a busy railway track as a result of an accident or a deliberate act.
He added that the way the wagon was dismantled indicates that professionals were involved.
Klimczak also said that his ministry was prepared for all sorts of sabotage operations aimed at critical infrastructure in Poland, which may be planned by Russian and Belarusian special services, but added that the public can be reassured that Polish special services were "working at full speed, exchanging their information with foreign services."
Talking to Polish Radio on Friday, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Maciej Duszczyk concurred with Klimczak by saying that "Everything points to the intentional detachment of a coal wagon found on a railway line in Katowice Ligota... and added that "There was a high probability of causing a train crash."
Later in the day, Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesperson for the minister-coordinator of special services, told PAP that "Currently, there is no information to classify the incident on the Katowice railway as an act of sabotage.
He added that the Katowice prosecutor's office was handling the case. (PAP)
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