Prosecutors: Human error caused German train crash

BERLIN — Prosecutors said Tuesday that human error caused two commuter trains to crash head-on last week near the southern German town of Bad Ailing last week, killing 11 people and injuring dozens.

"Had the dispatcher acted in accordance with the rules, as bound by his duty, the accident would not have happened," lead prosecutor Wolfgang Gieser told reporters in Bavaria.

Geise said there was no evidence of a technical fault for the Feb. 9 accident. He said his office has opened a criminal investigation against the 39-year-old dispatcher on suspicion of negligent homicide, bodily harm and interference with rail traffic. He didn’t identify the man.

The two trains were traveling on the same track.

Prosecutor Jürgen Branz said that while the investigation was still underway it was clear that "a special signal was activated that shouldn't have been."