"The Karonis report stops exactly where it should have started," emphasise seven chemical engineers in a joint statement. All members of the Leftist Militant United Front (ARAGES), they explain: "In other words, it stops at a literature-based argument that, under certain conditions, the formation of a fireball from silicone oils is not impossible. But it makes no effort to investigate whether this scenario is actually supported by any evidence from the site – for example, traces of silicone oil combustion products – or by other data, such as whether the size of the fireball matches the volume of silicone oil in the damaged transformer, and so on.

Seven chemical engineers on the new expert report into the deadly Tempe train crash:

“So, the scenario described in the Karonis report remains just that – a scenario. While it can’t be completely ruled out at first glance, there’s no indication that it reflects what really happened at Tempe on 28 February 2023.”

They go on to add:

“On the contrary, there are serious doubts about this explanation. Available video footage appears to show that the sparks – or electric arcs – had stopped before the fireball appeared. On top of that, the claim that the silicone oils were involved in the fireball, but only after it had already formed – and weren’t what triggered it – is also problematic.”

“The author himself, D. Karonis, acknowledges that his report is incomplete and offers no firm conclusion, admitting that a full year after the incident, the available field data is insufficient, and any analysis would carry a significant degree of uncertainty,” they note.

They conclude:

“This is the core issue with Professor Karonis’ report: by leaving open the possibility that silicone oils may have caused the fireball – even under a revised version of the scientifically flawed theory initially promoted – and by refusing to consider the possibility that the fireball could have resulted from undeclared fuel cargo on the freight train, the report ends up aligning itself with the government’s original narrative about Tempe. Or at the very least, it leaves room for that interpretation. Worse still, it risks being seen as having been written with a political motive in mind.”

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