Update: German Magnetic Train Crash Death Toll Rises

German police authorities and representatives of search and rescue teams announced a new details with regard to the potential causes that led to the dramatic crash of a Transrapid magnetic train between the northwestern towns of Doerpen and Kathen, as well as the new official death toll, following the discovery of more bodies in the train wreckage, late on Friday, the Associated Press reports.

Thus, authorities expressed their belief that the causes for the crash of the driverless maglev train (short from magnetic-levitation), for placing both a maintenance car and the train on the same track at the same time - which ultimately caused the tragic accident - can be attributed to a human error, and not to complex maglev technology. The train had allegedly been running at the speed of 200 kph, when it crashed into the maintenance car, but experts highlighted that the train can actually reach speeds of over 450 kph.

In an official statement, Rudolf Schwarz, a spokesman for the IABG, the company that operated the tracks, highlighted the human error potential cause: "At this time, the accident was not caused by a technical failure. It is the result of human error".
His argument is based upon the idea that the manner in which maglev trains are built makes them impossible to derail, simply because they have no wheels. This is what actually happened in the case of this Transrapid train: the train stopped on its tracks once it hit the maintenance car, yet the seriousness of the accident was given by what the vehicle had done afterwards.

Police stated that the most likely scenario of the events that unfolded and led to the crash, was that the low nose of the train came against the maintenance car, which was not supposed to be present on the tracks at the time the train passed through the respective area, scooped it and threw it in the air, until the latter came crashing down on the roof of the train. Search parties and firefighters had to use ladders and special cranes in order to clear the debris and remove the 23 dead bodies and the 10 injured people away from the train.

As far as the maintenance car was concerned, two workers were inside it, performing a check on the tracks and clearing them of any debris. However, the reason why they were present there, while the train passed by them, is not yet known.