Hungary: driver overtook vehicle at rail crossing

The driver of a double-decker bus cut in two by a passenger train in a Hungarian crash that killed 33 not only ignored warning lights but also passed a vehicle that had stopped at the crossing, investigators said today.

The German bus driver and 32 elderly German tourists died in the accident yesterday, while five survivors – four tourists and a Hungarian tour guide - were admitted to hospital.

According to a crash re-enactment by Hungarian authorities today, the bus involved in the accident passed a minibus that had stopped at the crossing to wait for the train to go by, said Economics Minister Istvan Csillag.

The bus driver should have seen the train coming because it was visible for several hundred yards along the tracks as it approached the crossing, Csillag added.

The bus crossed the tracks very slowly and at an angle because of the manoeuvre needed to pass the minibus waiting at the flashing red warning light, he added.

The accident bus was the last of three travelling in a convoy, and the driver ignored flashing red lights “and tried to catch up with the other buses,” Csillag said.

The collision happened near the lakeside resort of Siofok, 60 miles from Budapest.