Trebbin railway accident
In the Trebbin railway accident on March 1, 1962, cargo from a military train came loose near the town of Trebbin , damaged an oncoming express train and derailed its own train . More than 70 fatalities are believed.
Starting position
A troop of the Soviet army , consisting of about 15 flat cars , about 30 tanks of type T-55 had loaded, and another seven or eight covered freight cars , with each 30 to 50 men a tank battalion were occupied, was, was in the direction of Berlin on the hitchhiker's train on the move. Two tanks each stood on a wagon , with the cannon barrels facing in the direction of travel.
In the opposite direction, an express train operated by the Berlin – Leipzig city express train was traveling towards Leipzig at 120 km / h .
the accident
For an unexplained cause, the turret lock of a tank came loose, so that the cannon barrel swung to the side and into the clearance profile of the track in the opposite direction. At this moment, shortly before 7:00 p.m., the trains met at about the level of the F 101 level crossing (barrier post 39) near the Kliestow district of the city of Trebbin . The cannon barrel first brushed the steam locomotive and then slashed three or four express train cars on the sides. A passenger on the express train was caught, thrown from the train and killed. As a result of the collision, the tank overturned from the flat car it was standing on, fell into the track bed and derailed the following wagons of the military train . They wedged themselves together and piled up.
consequences
The passenger on the express train was the only fatality officially mentioned by the GDR media . However, numerous Soviet military personnel were injured, some fatally, in the personnel carriers. There was no information from the German or the Soviet side about their number . Rather, the authorities tried everything to keep the event secret and to cover up. According to eyewitness reports from the rescue workers deployed at the scene of the accident, between 70 and 90 soldiers are said to have died. It was also not known how many of the injured people transported to the surrounding hospitals later died as a result of the accident.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information sheet on the Jüterbog garrison history ("Barbara Message") No. 20 (2010) p. 2.
- ↑ Information sheet on the Jüterbog garrison history ("Barbara Message") No. 18 (2009) pp. 10-19.
Coordinates: 52 ° 10 '14.2 " N , 13 ° 13' 17.2" E