Bouhalouane railway accident

In the railway accident in Bouhalouane on January 27, 1982, the wagons of an occupied passenger train escaped during a shunting maneuver on a slope and collided with a freight train . 131 deaths were the result.

Starting position

The train was traveling from Oran to Algiers in Algeria and consisted of a diesel locomotive and 8 passenger cars . Behind the train station in Bouhalouane in the province of Chlef, the route climbs to a pass. The train came to a stop on this incline at around 1:30 a.m. because the locomotive proved to be insufficiently powerful.

the accident

The locomotive personnel uncoupled it to get help. The brakes of the cars left behind failed, however, so that they rolled backwards downhill. In Bouhalouane station they collided with a freight train waiting there.

consequences

The cars were smashed and pushed into one another. 131 people died, 200 passengers and railway workers were also injured.

literature

• Nicholas Faith: Derail: Why Trains Crash . Channel 4 books 2000. ISBN 0-7522-7165-2 , p. 49.
• Peter WB Semmens: Disasters on the rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 , p. 189.

Web links

• Catastrophes et Sinistres .
• Un fallo mecánico, posible causa de la catástrofe ferroviaria de Argelia . In: ABC v. January 29, 1982, p. 44.