Saltillo railway accident

In the Saltillo railway accident on October 5, 1972, a train derailed at the Moreno Bridge (Puente Moreno) near Saltillo , Coahuila , Mexico , due to excessive speed in a curve. At least 230 people died.

Starting position

The special train was used for pilgrims on their way back from Real de Catorce to Saltillo. It consisted of two locomotives and 16 old passenger cars with a total weight of more than 570 tons. The wagons with the inscription “ Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México ” were classified as “in poor condition”, had neither working compressed air nor hand brakes , they are even said to have already been scrapped . Each car was approved for 80 passengers . However, around 2,000 pilgrims returned by train from Real de Catorce, where they had attended the feast of St. Francis . The train was thus far overstaffed.

The accident site is 7 km south of Saltillo on a slope that begins behind the Carneros train station and is up to 37.5 ‰. Just before the route reaches the Moreno Bridge, it has a curve.

the accident

The braking power of the locomotive alone could not hold the train in the 37.5 ‰ gradient. He got out of control and drove into the curve at around 11:25 p.m. at a speed of 120 km / h, which is completely excessive for the local conditions. The locomotives and 16 wagons derailed along the tangent of the curve arch, wedged and partly lay on top of each other. The heap of rubble immediately began to burn.

consequences

At least 230 people died, many were burned. In addition, more than 1,000 were injured.

The Mexican federal government tried to manipulate the investigation and initially assumed that the driver and Beimann were drunk. But this was refuted by the investigation of the blood alcohol concentration . However, they were arrested and only released nine years later. Because of these opaque investigations, different versions are circulating about the course of the railway accident , the train involved and the number of victims and rumors, for example that the government had "black" bodies removed in order to reduce the number of victims.

Web links

• NN: El Tren Peregrino y the accidente de Puente Moreno .
• NN: Trenazo de Puente Moreno (Saltillo, Coahuila) .
• Pablo Noemi et al. Jaime Mendoza: El Trenazo, en Saltillo 1972 ... !!! .
• Trenazo en Puente Moreno: Testigos de una tragedia . TV report, interviews with witnesses (in Spanish ).
• Puente Moreno a 40 años de la tragedia . TV report in Spanish.

Remarks

1. ↑ One of them was numbered 8405-08 ( Trenazo en Puente Moreno: Testigos de una tragedia ).
2. ↑ According to NN: Trenazo there were 22 cars.
3. ↑ NN: Trenazo assume 3,000 people on the train.
4. ↑ Some sources therefore also cite October 6, 1972 as the day of the accident.
5. ↑ This is the official number (TV report Puente Moreno a 40 años ); Noemi / Mendoza report that more than 250 bodies have been recovered.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NN: Trenazo .
2. ↑ TV report Puente Moreno a 40 años .
3. ↑ NN: Trenazo ; Noemi / Mendoza: El Trenazo .
4. ↑ NN: El Tren .
5. ^ Noemi / Mendoza: El Trenazo .
6. ↑ Trenazo en Puente Moreno: Testigos de una tragedia .
7. ^ Noemi / Mendoza: El Trenazo .
8. ↑ NN: El Tren .
9. ↑ Trenazo en Puente Moreno: Testigos de una tragedia .
10. ↑ TV report Puente Moreno a 40 años .
11. ↑ NN: El Tren .
12. ^ Noemi / Mendoza: El Trenazo .
13. ^ Noemi / Mendoza: El Trenazo .
14. ^ Noemi / Mendoza: El Trenazo .
15. ↑ NN: El Tren .