Nishapur train disaster

Last updated
Nishapur train disaster
fj`h qTr nyshbwr - panoramio.jpg
Khayyam burning after the incident
Nishapur train disaster
Details
Date18 February 2004 (2004-02-18)
LocationKhayyam
Coordinates 36°05′55″N58°58′17″E / 36.0987°N 58.9715°E / 36.0987; 58.9715
Country Iran
Incident typeDerailment
CauseRunaway rail cars
Statistics
Deaths295
Injured460

The Neishapur train disaster was a large explosion in the village of Khayyam near Nishapur in Iran, on 18 February 2004. Nearly 300 people were killed [1] [2] and the entire village was destroyed when runaway train wagons crashed into the community in the middle of the night and exploded, resulting in Iran's deadliest rail disaster. It is still unexplained how the parked train had come loose and was able to travel such a long distance with no driver or guard.

Contents

Beginning of incident

The incident began in the city of Nishapur, where 51 railway wagons carrying sulfur, fertilizer, petrol and cotton wool broke loose from their siding at Abu Muslim Station, and rolled down the track for about 20 kilometres (12 mi) until they derailed and rolled down an embankment into the town of Khayyam. [2] [3] There was nobody staffing the wagons, or on board at the time of the crash. Local rescue services from neighboring towns arrived to rescue anybody who might have been trapped inside, and to extinguish minor fires which had broken out in the wreckage.

Chemical leak

The substances in the wagons were all highly explosive or flammable (although the Iranian railway authority had not classed any of them as "dangerous" before the incident), and had leaked following the crash. As the small fires spread, a large crowd of local people, including several local politicians and senior railway officials, gathered to watch the emergency operation.

Explosion

During the cleanup operation, the cargo of the wagons exploded the explosion reportedly being equivalent to 180 tons of TNT [2]  demolishing Khayyam, badly damaging the nearby towns of Eyshabad, Dehnow and Taqiabad, and being felt in the city of Mashhad, 70 kilometres (43 mi) away. The entire village was destroyed, and all of the local emergency services and government personnel were killed or seriously injured in the blast. The wreckage of the train and village continued to burn and explode for several days, despite the cold weather.

Death toll

State authorities identified 295 confirmed killed and over 460 injured, including 182 rescue workers and state officials. [3]

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Following the blast, troops from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were called in and were able to maintain security, whilst hundreds of rescue workers were brought in to help with the injured, the trapped, the missing and the dead.[ citation needed ] Five villages were described as "destroyed". [3]

Cause

Initial reports that "earth tremors" [1] started the wagons rolling have since been discredited, and investigation has so far failed to discover how exactly the wagons were able to travel from Nishapur to Khayyam on their own, why so many highly flammable cargoes were stored and transported together, and why the details of the crash were not discovered sooner, perhaps in time to arrange an evacuation. A statement from the Iranian Transport Minister Ahmad Khorram shortly after the incident reported that natural causes could not have caused the disaster, and that an investigation was underway to determine whether it was incompetence or malice by railway staff that allowed the wagons to come loose from where they were parked. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Ryongchŏn disaster was a train disaster that occurred on 22 April 2004 in the town of Ryongchŏn, North Korea, near the border with the People's Republic of China. At least 54 people were killed, including some Syrian scientists.

The Sarai Banjara rail disaster occurred on 2 December 2000, when a derailed freight train crossed onto the opposite track early in the morning in Punjab, India. A Howrah–Amritsar Express a passenger train coming from other direction hit the freight train head-on at speed, killing 46 people and injuring at least 150.

The Karanjadi train crash was an accident resulting in derailment of a passenger train at Karanjadi, a village in Maharashtra, India, on 17 June 2004. 20 people were killed and well over 100 injured in the crash, which was the result of heavy monsoon rains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1967 Thirsk rail crash</span> Train crash in Yorkshire, England on 31 July 1967

The Thirsk rail crash occurred on 31 July 1967 at Thirsk, Yorkshire, England on the British Rail East Coast Main Line.

The railways of New South Wales, Australia have had many incidents and accidents since their formation in 1831. There are close to 1000 names associated with rail-related deaths in NSW on the walls of the Australian Railway Monument in Werris Creek. Those killed were all employees of various NSW railways. The details below include deaths of employees and the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viareggio train derailment</span> 2009 derailment and train fire in Italy

The Viareggio derailment was the derailment and subsequent fire of a freight train carrying liquefied petroleum gas. It occurred on 29 June 2009 in a railway station in Viareggio, Lucca, a city in Central Italy's Tuscany region. Thirty-two people were killed and a further twenty-six were injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soham rail disaster</span> Ammunition train exploded, 1944

The Soham rail disaster occurred on 2 June 1944, during the Second World War, when a fire developed on the leading wagon of a heavy ammunition train. The wagon contained a quantity of high explosive bombs. The train crew had detached the wagon from the rest of the train and were drawing it away when the cargo exploded. The fireman of the train and the signalman at Soham signalbox were killed and several other people injured. The driver, Benjamin Gimbert, and fireman, James Nightall, were both awarded the George Cross for preventing further damage which would have occurred if the rest of the train had exploded.

This is a list of significant railway accidents in Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semnan–Damghan train collision</span>

Two trains collided on the main line in Semnan Province between Semnan and Damghan, Iran, on 25 November 2016, resulting in 49 deaths and 103 injuries. There were reported difficulties with the rescue operation due to the incident's remote location 4 km from the nearest station, Haft-Khan, and because only one helicopter could reach the scene immediately to join the rescue operation. It was the deadliest rail disaster in Iran since the Nishapur train disaster in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hitrino train derailment</span> 2016 railway incident in Bulgaria

On 10 December 2016, a freight train derailed, exploded and caught fire in the village of Hitrino in Shumen Province, Bulgaria, killing at least seven people and injuring 29 others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th Century Limited derailment</span> Railway accident caused by sabotage

On the night of Wednesday, June 21, 1905, the New York Central Railroad's flagship passenger train, the 20th Century Limited, derailed in Mentor, Ohio, on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway line, killing 21 passengers and injuring more than 25 others on board. A switch from the mainline to a freight siding was open, causing the Limited to leave the mainline and overrun the siding at high speed. The cause of the accident was never officially determined, but overwhelming evidence points to an act of rail sabotage. The 20th Century Limited connected New York City to Chicago; its running time had just weeks earlier been reduced from 20 hours to 18.

The 2004 Nosratabad fuel tanker explosion was a catastrophic incident that took place on 24 June 2004, near Iran's border with Afghanistan, resulting in at least 90 fatalities and 114 injuries. The disaster occurred when a petrol truck lost control and collided with a bus at the Nosratabad police checkpoint, located about 110 kilometres (68 mi) west of Zahedan.

References

  1. 1 2 "Iran train blast kills hundreds". 2004-02-18. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "'Error' caused Iran train blast". 2004-02-25. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  3. 1 2 3 Oliver, Mark (18 February 2004). "Scores dead in Iranian train blast". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2022.