Saint Michel-de-Maurienne Derailment, France, December 12, 1917

During the time of World War I, French soldiers were going home by train. They were coming home to enjoy the holidays and Christmas time was fast approaching. While these soldiers were expecting to get some R and R, they did not expect the horror that was to come.

The French soldiers were on board a train that was coupled together with another train because there was a shortage in resources across the country. There were about 1,000 French soldiers on this train and one engine pulled all 19 carriages that the train was attached to. Three of the 19 carriages had brakes on them. As the train went down a valley, the brakes overheated, and numerous fires broke out under some of the carriages. The train derailed and other carriages collided. 425 of the almost 1000 casualties could be identified.

Bihar Train Disaster – India, June 6, 1981

During a rainy and windy day, a passenger train was traveling over a bridge on June 6, 1981. This was at the time of India’s monsoon season. The train had nine cars attached to the engine and there were about 1,000 passengers on board this train.

There were very high winds that were blowing on this particular day. The water level rose higher than expected, and as the conductor of this train was traveling to his destination, a cow was crossing the tracks. The conductor slammed on his brakes very hard, and because the track was wet due to the high waters, the train and its carriages fell into the water. Most of the people drowned and some were swept away. There were about 300 bodies that were never found.

Balvano Train Disaster – Italy, March 2, 1944

The nation of Italy was severely drained due to the fascist government of Mussolini and ravaged by the war in 1944. There were shortages of everything, food, humanity, hope, throughout the land. A black market trade arose because of these shortages.

There were individuals who were up and coming entrepreneurs who use these trains to get to supplier farms. These entrepreneurs were stowaways and there was a coal shortage. People would burn alternative fuels that produce odorless carbon monoxide gas. On March 2, 1944, one of these overloaded locomotives was stalled in a tunnel. There were passengers on this train along with the stowaways. The fumes from the carbon monoxide killed around 500 to 600 people. The survivors of this tragedy were in carriages that were exposed to open air.

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