Railway accident in the Rickentunnel

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In the railway accident in the Rickentunnel on October 4, 1926, nine people died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the Rickentunnel between Kaltbrunn and Wattwil .

Starting position

The freight train involved in the accident was hauled by a B 3/4 of the SBB.
Portrait photos of the nine victims on the painted tunnel portal

The Ricke tunnel below the Rickenpass and is part of the single-track SBB - track Uznach-Wattwil . It is 8604 m long, has a profile area of ​​25.5 m² and a constant gradient of 15.75 ‰. There is no artificial ventilation. The tunnel was hated by railway staff because of the danger of gassing during the steam operation. The locomotive crew had to protect their nose and mouth with a damp cloth from the smoke gases during the passage .

The personnel of the passenger train 3616, which left Wattwil on October 4, 1926 at 11:05 a.m. and arrived in Kaltbrunn at 11:20 a.m., did not observe any significant evolution of gas in the tunnel.

Course of the accident

At 11.55 the left freight train 6854 the station Kaltbrunn . Of a steam locomotive B 3/4 guided train ran six Federal Railroad officials and a trailer load of 252 tons at a speed 20 km / h into the tunnel. The maximum towing capacity of the locomotive on this route was 260 tons.

The speed of the train decreased continuously due to the lack of steam. After 6 ½ minutes or a kilometer, the train got stuck on the incline because the steam locomotive was fired with briquettes with only a low calorific value . The locomotive crew did not manage to get the train moving again.

Due to the insufficient ventilation of the tunnel, there was not enough oxygen for the fire of the steam locomotive , so that the combustion was incomplete and the exhaust gases from the locomotive increasingly no longer consisted of (non-toxic) carbon dioxide , but of carbon monoxide . This combines with hemoglobin in the blood and blocks the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body. Forensic examinations showed that the victims choked on carbon monoxide .

According to the Central Meteorological Institute , on the day of the accident there was an extraordinarily high high pressure situation on the north side of the Alps . Due to the lack of air pressure difference, the toxic smoke gases from the stationary train could not be vented.

Rescue attempts

From Wattwil tried an eight-member rescue team with a tractor , a passenger car and respirators to come to the rescue. Due to poor visibility, the rescuers were only able to advance gradually to the scene of the accident over the last kilometer. Because several helpers were passed out, the rescue attempt had to be given up. Nevertheless, the unconscious stoker of the freight train was brought to Wattwil.

However, two of the rescuers had to be left behind in the tunnel. A rescuer and the unconscious stoker died after the rescue in Wattwil.

An attempt made later from Kaltbrunn to get to the scene of the accident with an emergency train also failed. It was only after 8 p.m. that it was possible to reach the scene of the accident with a handcar from Kaltbrunn with the help of gas and oxygen masks . The rescue work was no longer hindered by smoke gas. The crew of the train and the two rescuers from Wattwil were found dead, bringing the death toll to nine. The victims were found lying or sitting in the car. Two were outside the train in tunnel niches. One of the unfortunate helpers from Wattwil had apparently tried to contact the station with the tunnel telephone. Upon arrival of the emergency services that burned Petrol - signal lanterns still the locomotive, the briquettes on the grate had burned.

consequences

The permissible trailer load of the trains has been reduced and the train staff has been equipped with oxygen masks. Rescue equipment was stationed in Wattwil and Kaltbrunn. The line was electrified within a very short time . On May 7, 1927, electrical operation began on the Rapperswil –Wattwil line and thus also in the tunnel.

Incident of March 1, 1916

As early as March 1, 1916, there was an accident involving smoke gases in the Rickentunnel, in which four railway workers passed out in the middle of the tunnel. One managed to alert the Wattwil station, whereupon a search and rescue was initiated. One of the helpers also passed out and had to receive medical attention.

literature

  • A. Bachem: The Rickentunnel . In: Memorandum, Lake Constance – Toggenburg – Lake Zurich. St. Gallen 1911.
  • Report for the attention of the public prosecutor of the canton of St. Gallen and the responsible federal authorities on the result of the criminal investigation by the district office Seebezirk Kt. October 1926 . 1927.
  • 3x50 years - Swiss railways in the past, present and future (1997)
  • Railway Atlas Switzerland . Schweers + Wall. [Cologne] 2002.
  • A. Heer: 100 years of the Rickenbahn. Strange and memorable things about Switzerland's first base tunnel . In: Toggenburger Jahrbuch 2011. Wattwil 2010.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Smoke gas accident in the Rickentunnel. (PDF 1.2 MB) Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 88 (1926), Issue 15, p. 213 , accessed on January 26, 2014 .
  2. ↑ a b Unfortunately in the Rickentunnel. (PDF; 294 KB) In: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt. October 9, 1926, p. 7 , accessed January 26, 2014 .
  3. ↑ a b c Terrible catastrophe in the Rickentunnel. (PDF; 369 KB) In: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt. October 6, 1926, p. 2 , accessed January 26, 2014 .
  4. ↑ a b c Smoke gases accident in the Rickentunnel. (PDF 0.7 MB) Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 88 (1926), Issue 16, p. 227 , accessed on January 26, 2014 .
  5. ↑ a b Rickentunnel. (PDF 1.3 MB) Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 88 (1926), Issue 18, p. 253 , accessed on January 26, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Smoke gases accident in the Rickentunnel. (PDF 1.4 MB) Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 88 (1926), Issue 17, p. 240 , accessed on January 26, 2014 .
  7. ↑ The personnel of a freight train suffocated in the Rickentunnel. (PDF; 315 KB) In: Liechtensteiner Nachrichten. October 6, 1926, p. 3 , accessed January 26, 2014 .
  8. ↑ a b The disaster in the Ricken. (PDF; 393 KB) In: Liechtensteiner Nachrichten. October 9, 1926, p. 2 , accessed January 26, 2014 .
  9. ↑ The cause of death in the Rickentunnel. (PDF; 314 KB) In: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt. October 16, 1926, p. 7 , accessed January 26, 2014 .
  10. ↑ At that time - operational disruption in the Rickentunnel . 100 years ago. In: Toggenburger Tagblatt . March 2, 2016, p. 35 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 14 '59.5 "  N , 9 ° 3' 28.4"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred and twenty-two thousand five hundred and seventy-three  /  234 482