No technical fault or human error has been identified which might explain the deadly accident at a railway crossing at Oss involving the Stint electric vehicle, the OM public prosecution office has announced.

An investigation by the forensic institute NFI found nothing to indicate why the vehicle’s brakes apparently failed, causing it to collide with an oncoming train. The accident killed four children between 4 and 8 and seriously wounded the Stint driver and another child.

The wiring of the vehicle, which had remained intact, showed no signs of previous damage and the motor controller was found to have worked normally prior to the accident.

The investigators also looked at the possibility that electromagnetic radiation might have influenced the speed control mechanism of the Stint but could not find proof that this is what may have happened.

The findings confirm an earlier investigation by the OM carried out after the accident in 2018.

Human error was again ruled out. The driver, the investigation confirmed, had done everything in her power to stop the vehicle. The woman and the day care centre where she worked will therefore not be prosecuted, the OM said.

Nothing has been decided about a possible prosecution of the makers of the Stint pending an ongoing investigation into whether they knew about any ‘vulnerabilities’ in the design. A new version of the vehicle, which was renamed Buszy at the request of the bereaved relatives, was launched recently but is reportedly still waiting for official approval.

‘It is very important for the relatives of the children and the driver to know what caused the accident, and it’s very disappointing that this has proved impossible, ‘ prosecutor Janine Kramer told public broadcaster NOS.