Official: Brake failure caused fatal runaway train crash at Norway port

Official: Brake failure caused Norway train crash

OSLO — An accident investigation official in Norway says faulty brakes at a rail yard caused 16 empty cargo train cars to careen downhill for 3 miles (5 kilometers) before slamming into a port and killing three dock workers.

The accident happened Wednesday afternoon on the outskirts of Norwegian capital Oslo.

The Norwegian Accident Investigation Board’s Kurt Olsen says it’s still unclear whether human or technical error prevented the track brakes from functioning properly.

Olsen, who heads the board’s rail division, said Thursday that rail officials had attempted a controlled derailment, but failed to stop the cars before they smashed into the port. He said it would have been difficult to alert all workers at the busy and diffuse port terminal to the impending danger.