Bucharest Transport Society (STB) refuses to disclose essential details regarding the case of a 69-year-old woman who died after being hit by a cable on November 6, 2025, in an area where employees of the public company were working on the tram network.
Spotmedia.ro requested details from STB regarding the security procedure in the area, how employees followed this procedure, and the possible consequences of the incident. STB responded evasively. In short: they are conducting an internal investigation, although they claim their employees are not at fault.
What happened
"On 06.11.2025, at 10:33, an incident was reported at the STB dispatch center regarding the tram contact network on Camil Ressu Boulevard.
The STB crew that arrived at the scene found the steel cable supporting the tram contact wire broken by traction, about 4 meters away from the pole, by a crane with a Botoșani license plate.
Due to the shock caused by the breakage, the cable fell to the ground. It was urgently isolated by the first STB team members on-site. Subsequently, a second team arrived at the scene, with a cherry picker for working at heights," STB stated, at the request of Spotmedia.ro.
In the following minutes, several events took place that have not been adequately explained yet.
Several vehicles entered Camil Ressu Boulevard, where the support cable for the tram wire fell. The images were captured by a surveillance camera.
"As the work platform was being raised, the drivers of a car and a pickup truck forcefully entered the emergency area and passed among the STB team members, who moved aside to avoid being hit.
The pickup truck with a Gorj license plate, approximately 3.8 m in height, passed very close to the cherry picker and hooked the stainless steel cable supported by a member of the intervention team on the cherry picker platform with the right corner.
The cable was torn from the STB employee's hand and caused the remote control casing of the work platform to break.
The hooked cable, now on the road, was picked up by the rear wheels of the pickup truck, which continued moving, remained caught on the vehicle's deck, and seriously injured a person on the road," STB stated at the request of Spotmedia.ro.
How did the vehicles enter a restricted area
The company informed us that "the emergency area was secured by STB team members on the ground, and at certain times, they stopped vehicle traffic."
What is unclear: how did a car manage to hook the cable in an area where traffic should have been stopped?
Sources from STB explained to Spotmedia.ro that there is a procedure within the institution - including for traffic restriction - and that, during such interventions, there is a team leader responsible for coordination.
Sources from Spotmedia.ro explained that - since the cars entered a prohibited area - the employees who should have restricted traffic did not do their job.
In these circumstances, we asked STB officially:
- how many people were responsible for securing the perimeter where the intervention took place?
- what are the rules for securing the perimeter? What materials are used and at what distances are they installed from the location where STB employees are working on repairs?
- were the perimeter securing rules respected in this case? If yes, why were cars circulating on the road?
STB did not respond to these questions in any way.
In other words, although Spotmedia.ro requested the official procedure by which STB secures the perimeters where they work, the company refused to disclose it.
Without a procedure, we do not know if the employees made mistakes, if they followed the rules, or if the respective rules even exist.
Without a procedure, there is no accountability for a stage of the work. And without individual accountability, there is no safety.
Who is responsible. Who pays
We asked STB:
- if they are conducting an internal investigation
- what are the procedural steps of such an investigation
- who leads the internal investigation
- how many STB SA employees are under investigation
- at what stage is the internal investigation currently
- how long does STB estimate the internal investigation will take.
The only information STB provided is that they are conducting an internal investigation.
The company ignored all other questions posed by Spotmedia.ro.
We also asked STB if they have professional liability insurance or any other type of insurance to cover potential damages awarded in court to the deceased person's family.
STB SA ignored the question.
Sources from Spotmedia.ro within the company claim that such insurance does not exist. And that - if necessary - STB would pay damages from their own budget, supported annually by a subsidy from the PMB.
So, mistakes would be paid for by Bucharest residents, and the company would try to recover as much as possible from the employees found responsible.
We will have to wait and see what the STB internal investigation will conclude - and why the company provides so few details about it - as well as the conclusions drawn by the Forensics police.
Could it happen again?
All in all, the fact that it is possible, in Bucharest, to leave home for work and find your end on the road in such an incident is unacceptable. Besides identifying the responsible parties, STB should clearly communicate the measures taken to prevent such tragic events from reoccurring.