Champa railway accident

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In the railway accident of Champa derailed the September 14, 1997 at Ahmedabad-Howrah Express at the railway station Champa , in district Bilaspur, Madhya Pradesh , India , and parts of the train plunged into a river bed . At least 77 people died.

Starting position

The express train No. 8033 was en route from Ahmedabad to Haora . The line crosses the Hansdeo River to the west of Champa station on Railway Bridge No. 46, which lies between Champa and Nila stations . Construction work took place on the bridge and should be finished by 5 p.m. Pieces were also removed from the track , which was otherwise continuously welded here. The train approached the bridge at around 5:30 p.m.

the accident

However, construction work continued after 5 p.m. The engine driver was not informed about this and drove towards the bridge at the usual speed. Only 40 meters before the construction site - 500 meters were required - he was signaled with a red flag to stop. He immediately initiated an emergency stop . However, the remaining braking distance was not long enough to prevent the train from driving onto the bridge and into the construction site. There seven wagons of the train derailed and five of them fell partly onto a road that also runs under the bridge and into the rocky river bed. One car fell on top of another and smashed it. A sixth car got stuck in a precarious position on the bridge.

consequences

At least 77 people died and 234 were injured. According to other sources, the number of deaths was much higher. 250 were injured in addition. The Indian State Railways did not want to rule out that terrorists were at work. The train driver survived, his assistant died in the accident .

The person primarily responsible for securing the construction work fled. Two other people responsible for the safety of the construction site were arrested.

The rescue work proved difficult as there was no welding torch to cut open the wagons and no crane to lift them up for a long time .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NN: timeline ; Chand.
  2. ↑ Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence .
  3. ↑ According to Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence .
  4. ↑ Chand; Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence .
  5. ↑ According to Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence is the official number from Indian Railways .
  6. ↑ Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence reports more than 120 dead and 400 injured; NN: India train crash reports 100 deaths; Indian Sage Warriors: Today in Indian History of 78 dead.
  7. ↑ Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence .
  8. ↑ Ashraf et al. a .: Negligence .


Coordinates: 22 ° 1 ′ 35.3 "  N , 82 ° 38 ′ 29.7"  E