Khanna Rail Disaster, Awash, Ethiopia, January 14, 1985

The Khanna Rail disaster is without a doubt considered to be the worst commuter disaster on the African continent. On January 14, 1985, a fast-moving train was approaching a bridge. The train was close to the town of Awash, and the conductor was going towards a curving bridge.

The conductor did not slow down. The town of Awash lies on a ravine. Due to the conductor’s speed, the train derailed and the carriages of the train went into the ravine. There were about 1,000 passengers on board the train. 428 were killed and many were injured badly. The conductor of the train was arrested and charged with failing to reduce the speed of the train while approaching a curve.

Torre Del Bierzo Rail Disaster, Torre Del Biezo, Spain, January 3, 1944

On January 3, 1944, some people were traveling to a Christmas fair in Torre Del Bierzo, Spain, and an unforeseen event happened. A mail train happened to runaway, and it went into a tunnel. There was a locomotive ahead of this runaway train. There were three carriages that tried to get out of the way.

Two of the three carriages remained inside of the tunnel. Both of these carriages were struck by the mail train. On the opposite side of the track, a coal train had 27 wagons and was approaching these trains. The driver of the other train tried to warn the coal train but it was too late. There were about 200-500 casualties and a fire burned for two days because of the collision.

Ciurea Rail Disaster, Ciurea, Romania, January 14, 1917

During the time of World War I, there was a passenger train that ended up not being able to stop because the brakes failed on the train. The train was accelerating down a steep bank. There were 26 carriages on the train and there were refugees and also soldiers who were wounded on this train that were fleeing from the German forces.

As the train went down the steep bank, the acceleration increased, although the conductor tried his best to slow the train down. The conductor and other engineers even tried to throw sand into the wheels. The train then switched onto a loop to avoid hitting another train at the bottom of the bank. About 374 people lost their lives in this accident.

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