Koristowka railway accident

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The Koristovka railway accident was the head-on collision of two long-distance trains on November 6, 1986 on the Kiev – Odessa railway near the Korystivka train station (Користівка, Russian Koristowka / Користовка), Kirovohrad Oblast , then: Soviet Union , now: Ukraine . 44 people died.

Starting position

The passenger train 635 was en route from Krywyj Rih ( Russian : Кривой Рог / Krivoy Rog) to Kiev during the night . Whose engine driver had his Beimann with driving the locomotive , the ЧС4 -005 commissioned and fell asleep himself. He was very tired because he had had to look after a sick cow at home all day before. The assistant had just passed the practical test to drive an electric locomotive independently, but had not yet received a permit. November 7th was the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the trains were crowded with people visiting relatives or going to the capital for the celebration.

The train Ь 38, " Уголек " (" Ugolek "), was on the multi-track line in the opposite direction from Kiev to Donetsk , pulled by the ЧС4-071.

the accident

The man on train 635 overlooked a signal showing "stop" . The train ran over the signal, cut open a switch and was on the track in the opposite direction. Shortly afterwards, the Beimann saw the headlights of another train, the Ь 38, two yellow lights coming toward him and triggered a rapid deceleration from. He was able to reduce the speed to about 30 km / h before the head- on collision occurred at 3:02 a.m. Moscow time . The locomotives then lay on top of each other. Some cars were smashed. Mainly wagons of train 635 were affected, the first passenger wagon of this train, which was completely overcrowded with 138 passengers, mostly students , was hit particularly hard . He ran behind the rail mail car , which in turn immediately followed the locomotive. The passengers on the Ь 38 train were less affected .

consequences

44 people died, 100 were also injured, 27 of them seriously. The accident was hushed up in the Soviet Union's public media because it did not fit in with the celebrations of the 69th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution the following day. This made it particularly difficult to find the relatives of the dead quickly. Only in December was a brief report published in Izvestia . One of the worst rail accidents in the Soviet Union went almost unnoticed.

The accident investigation only lasted six weeks, which in retrospect led to doubts as to whether the truth was really found. The train driver and the Beimann were indicted before the Supreme Court of the USSR , pleaded guilty and after three days of trial were sentenced on December 27, 1986: the train driver to 15 years in prison , the Beimann to 12 years in a labor camp . The engine driver served seven years in a prison camp in Khmelnitsky Oblast and was then released on parole for good conduct .

literature

  • Peter WB Semmens: Disasters on the rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 .

Web links


Coordinates: 48 ° 43 '56.8 "  N , 33 ° 3' 58.6"  E