then set the route for the train 653 arrival. What happened next was never clearly explained. The weather was very foggy, with visibility limited to 50 meters. The senior conductor and junior conductors both got down from the train. The senior conductor supposedly saw a green light close to the station office, which would have meant "permission to depart". He informed the junior conductor that he had seen the signal and shouted "Get on, [station dispatcher] gives departure"; he asserted later that he saw only the flash of green light. Because of the fog, he was not able to identify the source of the light. It could not have been the station dispatcher, as he was in his office at the time. Though the junior conductor personally did not see the green light, he passed the signal to the locomotive. The head guard also accepted the existence of the green light, although he had not seen it. Some passengers later stated that they also might have seen such a light, but were not absolutely sure. The source of the green light (if it existed at all) was never determined. The most likely possibility would have been a junior conductor's lantern, as they were equipped with filters in multiple colors, including green. The train driver (although he did not see the green light) called "departure" and started the train. Just at the moment the train passed the signal, the fireman was putting coal into firebox and discovered the water level was low, so he did not notice that the signal was in the "stop" position, even though checking the signals was part of his duty. Moreover, the head guard likewise overlooked that "stop" signal. Indeed, as he later mentioned, he remembered that train 608 normally passed train 653 at Stéblová station, but he assumed the passing had been moved to the next station. When the station dispatcher saw that the train had started to move, he rushed out of his office and used a lantern and two whistles to signal "stop by any possible means". The duty of the senior conductor during departure was to observe signals coming from the station, but he had already begun to check tickets. One of the switchmen jumped on a bicycle and unsuccessfully attempted to catch up with the train. The station dispatcher tried to call a signal box two kilometers away to ask the