On the third day of the trial of the Millas drama before the Marseille criminal court, the trainee driver of the regional train who hit a school bus, and the monitor who was by her side, came this Wednesday to testify to the appalling shock, to tell their trauma . And assures you want to “restore the truth” for the families of the victims.
Their voice trembles, still shivers with their terror and their distress on December 14, 2017, side by side behind the window of the TER cabin which is tragically advancing towards the level crossing, number 25, of Millas.
At the controls, Marilyn Vandeville, a 35-year-old mother at the time, a former controller, continued her training as a driver. Assisted by an instructor, Thierry Madeira. At 3.30 p.m., they left Villefranche-de-Conflent for Perpignan, 5 minutes late, enough time to carry out all the regulatory checks. Around 4 p.m., the train was in the acceleration phase, at 75 km/h, it came out of a curve, with now a clear view of the straight line along the Chemin du Ralet. And there, in the distance, they do not believe their eyes. “At the level crossing, I saw the barriers lowered. A fraction of a second later, a bus arrives. And I see it pushing and twisting the barrier, says Marilyn Vandeville. With the lights on, I can’t be formal today. But the barriers, I am adamant. I had just passed the infrastructure and signaling anomalies module, I was attentive to that. At that moment, I say to myself: “he’s going to back up. He’s going to notice it”, except that I see the bus moving forward slowly. He never stopped. Me, I stopped on this image”.
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“As long as the shock does not take place, there is always hope”
Together, the two colleagues let out the same cry of terror: “But what is he doing? It’s not possible!”. “The barrier continues to deform. And the bus continues to move very slowly, continues Thierry Madeira. I stare at this white concrete wall in front of me. It is imminent. But as long as the clash doesn’t happen, there is always hope.” However, in a handful of seconds, the one hundred and ten tons of scrap metal rush straight towards the bus. “We couldn’t do anything more. The shock was inevitable, we were powerless and that’s the hardest part”. They don’t know it yet but there is worse. Facing them, 23 college students return home carefree.
At the last second, the trainer throws himself back, to protect himself in the airlock, sure that his trainee is following him. She does not move. “I did not think, she confides. I immediately tapped the emergency brake system and gave a long whistle, hoping the bus would pick up speed and clear the way. I was stuck on this bus. He had to go. Even though I am aware that I could have been seriously injured or no longer be there”. In an unspeakable crash, the train literally pierces the school bus. The instructor immediately goes out to pick up his trainee. Who, in the last burst of despair, “keep whistling” ….
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“We waited for the train to come to a complete stop. I was impressed by the smell of heat, and stunned by the shock of course”, remembers Thierry Madeira, who ordered his trainee not to move, placed a fire extinguisher at the foot of the TER door and ran to the emergency telephone to have the line cut off as quickly as possible, in order to avoid “surdrama”, “so that someone does not get electrocuted”.
“I hoped so much that the bus was empty”
Marilyn Vandeville waits, amid shards of glass and smoke. None of his passengers were injured. “It was after I realized the importance of the accident. I had only seen one person on the bus. And I hoped so much that it was empty. That’s when I saw the ballet of the helicopters that I understood that there were people inside. Children… I had my eldest son who was going to be 13, the same age as them. I never celebrated Christmas again as before. The shock, it was violent for us too, the suffering we have in us.
“A pain, not physical, but moral” that the instructor, now retired, and the driver, who has validated her training, are still struggling to appease. Long time, she ends, “I felt guilty for being late that day”. “We say to ourselves what if, what if… but we hadn’t asked anything”. Yet they had to be there at the helm, because “they had to restore the truth for these parents who are waiting for answers” . Side by side, like every December 14, out of sight, when they go to lay flowers at the Millas level crossing. Without being able to go back in time.