Number of detainees in train collision incident rises to four

The prosecutor of Semnan announced that the number of individuals detained regarding the collision of two trains in this province has increased to four. According to Tasnim News Agency, Haidar Asiyabi stated that the locomotive driver of the Semnan-Mashhad train, which collided with the Tabriz-Mashhad train, was arrested on Sunday morning, December 7. He mentioned that this individual had fled after the incident, and with his arrest, four people have now been detained in connection with this incident. The prosecutor of Semnan had previously reported the arrest of three individuals regarding this incident on Saturday without providing details. Hossein Ashouri, head of the High Commission for Railway Accidents, stated on Saturday that about ten people were involved in this incident and that each of them should be interrogated and allowed to present their defense. Two passenger trains collided on Friday, December 5, on the Semnan-Damghan route at the 'Haft-Khan' station, resulting in a fire in several carriages. While some officials reported that 46 people were killed in this incident, the prosecutor of Semnan on Sunday rejected these figures, stating that 40 people had died. Regarding the cause of the incident, government officials stated that the Tabriz-Mashhad train had stopped due to cold weather and brake system freezing behind a bend, and its stop had been reported to the control center in Shahroud. However, after a shift change, the incoming controller was unaware of this and informed the Semnan-Mashhad train that the route was clear despite the red signal. One day after this incident, Mohsen Poursaidaghi, the CEO of the railway company, resigned, and this resignation was accepted by Abbas Akhoundi, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development. On Friday, the President had called for the identification of those responsible for this incident, and the head of Iran's judiciary instructed the head of Semnan's judiciary to take 'legal and swift action' against those responsible and report the results of the case to him. Meanwhile, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, stated on Sunday that 'the government acted urgently in this matter; one of the actions was serious attention to the condition of the injured, and the other was to assist families who have suffered a great loss to avoid ancillary problems.' On Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, referred to this incident and also to the incident where Iranian pilgrims were killed while returning from the Arbaeen ceremony, urging government officials not to 'easily pass over these painful events.' In a suicide attack on December 4 by ISIS at a gas station in Hilla, dozens were killed while returning from the Arbaeen ceremony. Many of the casualties in this incident were Iranian, Afghan, and Pakistani. Previously, Iranian officials had reported the death toll from this incident as 40. However, on Saturday, Fars News Agency quoted 'an informed source' in the Iranian Foreign Ministry stating that after this incident, 80 pilgrims from Khuzestan who were present at the site have gone missing and are believed to have been killed in this incident. According to this 'informed source,' three buses that were returning Khuzestani pilgrims from Iraq to Iran had stopped at the site of the explosion. On November 16, eight Iranians were killed and nearly 100 injured in an explosion in Samarra, Iraq. ISIS claimed responsibility for both of these explosions.