14 DAY TRIAL // A train crashed at 6.40 a.m. in Australia, leading officials to believe that Black Portuguese millipedes might have been to blame.
According to a spokesman for the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia, two trains collided.
A train pulling into the Clarkson station, in the proximity of Perth, smashed into a stationed train.
“It was low speed [the collision],” spokesman David Hynes says.
“The stationary train was loading passengers at Clarkson and the other train was coming up behind it, as it would do being the next cab off the rank and it just hasn’t been able to pull up in time,” he describes.
Authorities are yet to issue an explanation for the collision, but they have found millipedes squashed on the tracks, according to the Standard.
“We don’t know why. [...] Millipedes are one of the factors we are going to take into account.
“We are obviously looking quite seriously into that. We are very keen to find out what the circumstances were,” Hynes adds.
News Australia explains that no serious injuries have been reported, although some passengers have complained of minor neck issues. An ambulance was called in and EMT treated them on the spot.
“We have since had a couple of [injured] people put their hand up who continued on into Perth…I think we’ve got up to about five or six people who have reported they’ve got a stiff neck,” Hynes details.
First responders came upon hundreds of black, slippery arthropods on the tracks when inspecting the scene of the collision.
“The train loses traction and the train has slipped.
“What happened in previous instances is trains which were traveling at speed have gone over an infestation, crushed them and made the tracks slimy,” Hynes gives as a possible explanation for the crash.
15-minute delays have been registered at the Joondalup and Mandurah stations after the incident.