Dispatcher Was Playing Games Before Deadly German Train Crash

New information has come to light surrounding the events of February's tragic train crash that killed 11 people after two commuter trains collided head-on in southern Germany--and it involves video games.

Chief public prosecutor Wolfgang Giese said in a statement that the signal controller admitted to playing a game on his phone before the crash. However, the unidentified 39-year-old "denied being distracted by this," Giese said, as reported by Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung (via USA Today).

Giese's statement went on to describe the dispatcher's actions as a "dereliction of duty" and not simply a "temporary failure." The man was taken into custody on Tuesday and faces negligent homicide charges.

GameSpot sister site CBS News has more details on the story, reporting that prosecutors say the man was "actively" playing the unspecified game for "an extended period of time" up until "shortly" before the crash. The use of personal phones while on the job is forbidden.

The prosecutors also don't agree with the man's contention that he was not distracted. "Due to the close timing it must be assumed that the accused was distracted from controlling the cross-traffic of the trains," the statement said

The prosecutors allege that the dispatcher's reportedly distracted state contributed to the crash.

"This likely led the dispatcher to give the trains the wrong signals and then, once he noticed his error, to fumble the emergency call by pressing the wrong combination of buttons, meaning the train drivers were unable to hear it, prosecutors said," according to CBS News.