Basic facts about major railway accidents

Editor's note: This schedule does not include everything. Selected rail incidents with at least 200 deaths are listed, plus incidents in the United States.



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Below is an overview of major railway accidents since 1900.

January 1915 – Guadalajara, Mexico: More than 600 people die when a train derails into a ravine during a steep descent.

May 22, 1915 – Gretna, Scotland: The UK's worst rail disaster occurs when three trains collide at Quintinshill, causing 227 deaths, many of whom were Royal Scots soldiers.

June 1915 – Montemorelos, Mexico: A military train derails into a canyon, killing more than 300 people.

December 12, 1917 – Modane, France: 427 people are killed when a train carrying more than 1,000 soldiers derails in the French Alps.

January 16, 1944 – León Province, Spain: A train crashes in the Torro tunnel, killing more than 500 people.

March 2, 1944 – Near Salerno, Italy: At least 521 people die from carbon monoxide fumes when a train stops in a tunnel.

October 22, 1949 – Poland: More than 200 people die when the Danzig-Warsaw express derails.

April 3, 1955 – Guadalajara, Mexico: About 300 people are killed when a night express train derails in a canyon.

September 29, 1957 – Montgomery, West Pakistan: 250 people are killed when a passenger train collides with a freight train.

February 1, 1970 – Buenos Aires, Argentina: The worst rail disaster in Argentina's history occurs when an express train crashes into a stopped commuter train, killing 236 people.

October 6, 1972 – Saltillo, Mexico: 208 people die after a train traveling at excessive speed derails and catches fire.

June 6, 1981 – Bihar, India: India's worst train accident to date occurs during adverse weather conditions, when a train derails and plunges into a river in the state of Bihar, killing 800 people and injuring more than 100.

January 13, 1985 – Near the town of Awash, Ethiopia: The government says 392 people were killed when a passenger train derailed while crossing a bridge over a ravine.

June 4, 1989 – Ural Mountains, Soviet Union: 575 people die when a gas pipeline leak causes two passenger trains to explode.

January 4, 1990 – Sindh Province, Pakistan: More than 210 people die after the Zakaria Bahauddin Express passenger train crashes into a stopped freight train.

September 22, 1994 – Tolunda, Angola: 300 people die after a brake malfunction causes a train to derail and fall into a ravine.

August 20, 1995 – Firozabad, India: 358 people die after an express train collides with another train that had stopped after hitting a cow.

October 28, 1995 – Baku, Azerbaijan: A subway fire kills about 300 passengers and injures more than 200.

August 2, 1999 – India: Brahmaputra Mail train en route to New Delhi crashes into the idle Awadh-Assam Express at Gaisal station in West Bengal, killing 285 people and injuring more than 300.

February 20, 2002 – Egypt: 361 people die in a fire on a train traveling from Cairo south to Luxor.

June 24, 2002 – Tanzania: A derailed passenger train collides with a freight train and then derails, causing 281 deaths.

February 18, 2004 – Near the city of Neyshabur, Iran: A derailed 51-car chemical train derails and explodes, causing at least 320 deaths and hundreds of injuries to residents in the area.

December 26, 2004 – Sri Lanka: Between 1,500 and 1,700 passengers aboard the Samudradevi, or Sea Queen, train are believed to have died when the tsunami swept their train off the tracks.

June 2, 2023 – Odisha, India: More than 280 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in a collision between two passenger trains and a freight train in the eastern state of Odisha.

March 1, 1910 – Wellington, Washington: An avalanche pushes a passenger train and a mail train into a ravine, killing 96 people.

July 9, 1918 – Nashville, Tennessee: Considered the worst rail disaster in American history, two passenger trains collide at Dutchman's Curve, resulting in 101 deaths.

November 1, 1918 – Brooklyn, New York: At least 90 people are killed when a Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company Brighton Beach train derails inside the Malbone Street tunnel.

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