'Reckless' may have caused train crash

Saudi authorities have initially established that a train crash that injured 44 passengers in the Gulf Kingdom last week has been caused by excess speed by its “reckless” driver, a Saudi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Saudi General Railways Organization (GRO) said it had suspended the driver and his assistant pending the completion of its investigation into Wednesday’s accident between Riyadh and the eastern town of Dammam.

“Preliminary results of an investigation showed that the train was going at a high speed,” said GRO acting chairman Hamad Abdul Qadir said.

“The driver was reckless as he steered the train at high speed just before going into a turn…he and his assistant have been suspended,” he told Alwatan daily.

GRO information chief Mohammed Abu Zaid said all those injured when the train derailed on its way from Dammam to Riyadh have been treated and discharged from hospital, adding that all of them had suffered from light to medium injuries.

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