Kranowitz railway accident
The Kranowitz railway accident occurred on October 24, 1919. It was a flanking journey of a passenger train into a freight train with a subsequent fire .
Starting position
Kranowitz was the German border station located in Silesia on the international railway line Opava - Ratibor (today: Opava - Racibórz ) from Czechoslovakia to the German Empire . In the period after the First World War, smuggling flourished in the "small border traffic" . In particular, alcohol was smuggled into Germany from Czechoslovakia.
The P 1002 passenger train from the Czech border station at Kuchelna reached Kranowitz shortly after 5 a.m. There the G 8901 freight train was waiting on a track adjacent to the entry track .
the accident
The locomotive of the freight train had pulled up too far, making it into the gauge stood the entrance track. The incoming passenger train then hit the flank of the locomotive. As a result of the collision, a fire broke out in the baggage car , which also spread to a barrel of high-proof alcohol that was smuggled by railroad workers . The barrel exploded and the fire spread to the passenger cars in which many travelers had also hidden smuggled alcohol, some of which leaked and fueled the fire in the vehicles.
consequences
The data on victims vary considerably between 25 and 60 dead and 80 to 130 injured. Many injured people fled from the scene of the accident with smuggled goods, so that the number of victims could never be precisely determined.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 0 ′ 53.6 " N , 18 ° 7 ′ 45.7" E