Last update - 00:00 09/10/2006
Police likely to question Railways head over June accident
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
The police are expected to question this week the director general of Israel Railways, Ofer Linchevsky, as part of an investigation of June's train accident that killed five people and wounded dozens.
In the incident, which took place at Beit Yehoshua, the train went off the rails.
Thus far, the special task force manned by members of the police force's Central District has questioned dozens of people including senior and low-level Israel Railways workers and Transportation Ministry employees.
It is not yet clear whether investigators will question Linchevsky "under caution."
Since the accident took place in the Sharon region, police have been conducting one of the most extensive and largest traffic investigations in history. Investigators already have collected a great deal of material, and are examining the conduct of Israel Railways, in general, and its safety procedures, in particular. Police have said they will not stop the investigation at any rank.
After the Sukkot holiday ends Saturday night, State Prosecutor Eran Shendar is expected to decide whether to compel the Transportation Ministry to hand over the findings of a separate inquiry to the police.
Police are quarreling with the ministry over accessing the findings of an inquiry committee appointed by Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz immediately after the accident, as reported in Haaretz. The panel, which was headed by Major General (res.) Yossi Peled, found serious safety failures, and recommended that three Israel Railways officials be dismissed.
Police have expressed a great deal of interest over information collected by the committee, and have said they want to determine whether the findings can contribute to the ongoing investigation. However, the Transportation Ministry has refused to hand over the full report, arguing that witnesses who appeared before the committee had been promised confidentiality.
Police officials said they were surprised by this explanation, and have said over the last few weeks that they wonder what the ministry is really hiding. In an effort to resolve the crisis, police investigators initially went to the courts, but then pulled their request to prevent embarrassment for both sides.