MANILA — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has ruled out sabotage as the cause of the decoupling of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) in November last year.
“No findings of any human intervention, in other words purely accidental ang nangyaring pagkalas doon (regarding the decoupling incident),” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Tuesday.
Aguirre said he has already received the report of the investigation conducted by the NBI on the incident but disclosed that investigators saw no sabotage behind it.
The justice department earlier ordered the NBI to conduct the probe on the incident following a request from the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which had hinted the possibility of sabotage, after its initial investigation revealed that the black box of the decoupled MRT coach was missing.
On Nov. 16, 2017, a link of the coaches got detached near the Buendia MRT 3 Station, forcing passengers to get out and walk along the tracks.
MRT 3 technicians who checked the detached coaches have already ruled out any electrical or mechanical problem.
“It is impossible for the coupler to separate without human intervention,” Safety Chief Technician Ruel Jose previously said.
Technicians have also discovered that the Messma Card of the decoupled light rail vehicle was missing.
The Messma Card functions like a black box that records all applied intervention. (PNA)
