Italian Train Derails After Driver and Conductor Leave for Coffee, With Moroccan Passenger Asleep On Board

On August 19, 2020, a Trenord regional train had just reached its terminus at Paderno-Robbiate, near Milan. The driver and conductor got off for a break at a bar. On board, Salak El Mansouri, a Moroccan man in his fifties, was still asleep. A few minutes later, the train began moving again, with no one at the controls.

The driver tried to catch up with the train by running along the tracks, but fell and was injured. Railway staff alerted the next stations. In Carnate, they decided to divert the train onto a dead-end track to prevent a more serious disaster.

According to the official railway accident investigation report, the train traveled about six kilometers and reached 78 km/h before hitting a buffer stop and derailing. Several carriages were thrown off the tracks. The Moroccan passenger was in the rear section of the train, whose carriages remained on the tracks. He escaped with injuries.

Salak El Mansouri’s story took another turn. He died of causes unrelated to the accident, having joined the case as a civil party. His heirs had to be located, including some family members who remained in Morocco. According to Italian newspaper Il Giorno, they eventually received compensation, the amount of which was not disclosed.

Two braking-system components at the center of the trial

Six years after the derailment, six Trenord employees are still on trial at the Monza court. The driver, the conductor and two maintenance workers face charges of causing a railway disaster and involuntary injuries. Two managers are also charged with attempting to obstruct the investigation and committing fraud in criminal proceedings.

At the hearing on Thursday, November 5, 2026, Giorgio Colombo, technical and maintenance director, had to explain what happened to two parts of the braking system removed from the wreckage. Prosecutors accuse him and another manager of having the components removed and then concealed.

The executive says he asked for them to be recovered and kept safe. According to his account, as reported by Il Giorno, he was at his mother’s funeral when he learned investigators were looking for the parts. He says he then informed his lawyer and wanted to provide an explanation to the prosecutor.

The technical report published in 2022 had already noted that the two devices were found in a Trenord maintenance workshop after they had been missing during an inspection of the wreckage. Their removal had complicated the expert examinations.

The trial is due to resume in December 2026. After more than six years of proceedings, the question of whether the alleged offenses have become time-barred is now before the Italian judges.