At the Marseille Criminal Court,
The scene only lasted a handful of seconds. But the memory is still vivid, and the trauma salient. A few seconds during which Thierry and Marilyne saw the TER they were driving driving dangerously towards the school bus which was crossing the Millas level crossing, on December 14, 2017. This is the first time that the two railway workers have worked together, this day -the. Marilyne, a trainee, began her training a few months earlier, and the train she is driving under Thierry’s supervision approaches the small village in the Pyrénées-Orientales with a little delay. “I see this bus on the right and I see it pushing this barrier very slowly, remembers Thierry at the helm of the Marseille criminal court. I thought he had stopped too close to the barrier and when releasing the brake he pushed it. » The bus moves well and truly on the rails. Marilyne activates the emergency brake and the horn. “I was hoping he would speed up to clear the way,” says Marilyne.
Launched at 75 km / h, the train rushes on the school bus, which carries 23 college students. “At that time, she or I, we are powerless, sighs Thierry. The brakes kick in and we have to wait. I stay inside watching. Marilyne is still whistling. I look up and the bus is in front of me. This metal wall is in front of me. The impact is imminent. We shouted at the same time, but not the same thing. »
“A War Scene”
The drama unfolds. Six children will lose their lives in this collision. At the helm, Thierry’s tone is monotonous and fast. “As soon as the train stopped, I was impressed by the smells of heat and smells in general. I was stunned with shock. An apocalyptic scene ensues. “A war setting,” Thierry even said at the helm, between two sobs. “There were debris everywhere, glass,” breathes Marilyne. Both hope that the bus they have just hit is empty of any passengers. “I put myself in protection, believes Thierry. I was sure there was no one on the bus. But I saw a cell phone in the hallway. And I knew it wasn’t mine. And I knew it wasn’t Marilyn’s cell phone. »
The driver escapes with bruises on her legs and pieces of glass on her arms. “The wound is more moral? asks his lawyer. “Cerment”, blows the forty-year-old, followed since that day by a psychologist. “The beginnings were complicated for everything. My children no longer wanted me to do this job. There hasn’t been a Christmas since that has gone well for me. I don’t celebrate Christmas like I used to, since that accident. My oldest was the age of these children and it is horrible. »
” We never forget anything. We live with »
“I had an accident at work for almost three months,” says Thierry. It is still a rather complicated moment to overcome. It’s not driving that I feared. It’s the others. Even in the car, I was scared. Since then, every December 14, the two drivers, who are very close today, meet. “I will no longer work on December 14, explains Marilyne. I’m taking a day off and with Thierry, we’re going to lay flowers at the level crossing. We don’t mix with families, but that seems normal to us. »
And to add: “The shock, it was also violent for us. Not as much as for families. But suffering, we have it in us too. We never forget anything. We live with. “A suffering also linked, according to her, to the questioning of which the two drivers were the subject, in the media and by the defense, which tried again this Wednesday to question their certainties.
“People make the amalgam, believes Marilyne. I am a train conductor. I was on my way. The bus should not be in my lane. We didn’t ask for anything. Even if he had accelerated, in the end, it would have been the tail of the bus. And if he had moved back, it would have been the head. Indeed, despite the emotion, at the helm, the two drivers have the same speech. “I am formal, says Marilyne. The barrier was closed. “Words that come to lengthen the increasingly supplied list of witnesses who say the same thing at the bar. This is enough to undermine the defense, which has been claiming since the start of the investigation that the level crossing was open. Behind the two railway workers, the driver of the bus remains bewildered, taking out a handkerchief from time to time.