Train derailment in Ohio.

Photo: AFP.

The first conclusions of the federal investigation into the massive derailment at the beginning of February in the state of Ohio of a train with dozens of wagons loaded with toxic substances determined that the

According to the data collected, the sensors that detected overheating of the train wheel bearings, the main cause of the incident, were calibrated at an excessively high temperature.

"What happened was 100 percent preventable," lamented Friday the president of the National Transportation Safety Board of the United States, Jennifer Homendy, during a press conference in Washington DC, where she announced that the residents of East Palestine will be able to hear this information first hand next spring, when more details about the effects of the derailment are known.

He added that

Homendy confirmed to ABC News that

According to the images of the local surveillance cameras, the train presented "bearings in one of the final states of overheating before the derailment of the train."

The third and last alert sensor registered a final temperature of 253 degrees above the critical maximum before launching the alarm and ordering the drivers to stop the train with the help of an automatic emergency brake that ended up dislodging the wagons from the track. .

According to the rules of the train operator, Norfolk Southern,

but this regulation does not have a national scope and depends rather on the companies themselves.

Company employees, under anonymity, revealed last week to CBS that the vehicle experienced mechanical failure two days before the derailment and that it was carrying an exaggerated load: 151 wagons, including twenty with harmful elements, for a total weight of about 18 000 tons.

A freight train carrying dangerous chemicals derails in East Palestine, Ohio.

A column of smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, following a controlled fire following the derailment of a train carrying toxic substances.

The image is from last day 6, but the mishap occurred three days before.

Photo: App.

(With information from

)

See also:

Nearly 45,000 animals have died in a toxic spill from an Ohio train derailment