July 27, 2021
An inquest jury has found that a tram crash which killed seven people in Croydon in 2016 was an accident.
More than 50 people were injured when the tram tipped over and spun off the tracks near Sandilands tram stop in south London in November 2016.
The tram was travelling three times faster than a speed restriction.
The inquest jury at Croydon Town Hall reached its verdict last week after more than nine days of deliberations.
The tram crash resulted in the deaths of Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, from Croydon. Family members of the victims sat in the public gallery to hear the verdict.
The foreman of the jury said: “The tram driver became disorientated, which caused loss of awareness in his surroundings, probably due to a lack of sleep.
“As a result of which, the driver failed to brake in time and drove his tram towards a tight curve at excessive speed.
“The tram left the rails and overturned on to its right side, as a result of which the deceased [were] ejected from the tram and killed.”
This is valid as of 27th July 2021.
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