The 40-year-old man, identified by officials only as "Michael P," signaled for two trains coming from opposite directions to travel on a single track. According to German authorities, he was playing a computer game on his phone shortly before the February 9 head-on crash near the spa town of Bad Aibling in southern Germany. Investigators said his actions were a "dereliction of duty" that distracted him from controlling the train traffic. The defendant, identified only as "Michael P," admitted his guilt over the crash but wore a hood in court to hide his face. German police said their investigation showed the man "violated operational rules" by playing the game until shortly before the collision.

Source: CNN December 05, 2016 14:55 UTC