Aracaju train crash
Date | March 20, 1946 |
---|---|
Location | Aracaju |
Country | Brazil |
Operator | VFF Leste Brasileiro[1] |
Type of incident | Derailment |
Statistics | |
Trains | 1 |
Passengers | 1000 |
Deaths | 185 |
Injuries | 300 |
The Aracaju train crash, which occurred on March 20, 1946, is the worst ever rail disaster in Brazil; killing 185 people[2] and injuring 300 others.[3] The accident happened near Aracaju, capital of the coastal state of Sergipe, 800 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro.[2]
The train concerned was a suburban service operating between Aracaju and Capela, Sergipe,[4] and carrying about one thousand passengers.[2] The locomotive, baggage car and three passenger cars[5] were derailed whilst descending a steep incline near Aracaju,[2] most of the dead being "smashed within the cars", "Many bodies were mutilated so badly that identification was impossible".[5]
Grief-stricken relatives came to the scene and nearly lynched the surviving locomotive engineer who depending on the source either took refuge in a police station[3] or fled the area later to surrender in the town of Laranjeiras, Sergipe.[2] The train conductors also fled.[5]
References
- ↑ "São Cristóvão". Estações Ferroviárias.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Haine, Edgar A. (1993). Railway Wrecks. pp. 145–146. ISBN 0-8453-4844-2.
- 1 2 "Lynch Threat by Train Crowd". The Sydney Morning Herald. March 22, 1946.
- ↑ The San Mateo Times. California. March 21, 1946. Missing or empty
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(help) - 1 2 3 Daily Kennebec Journal. Maine. March 21, 1946. Missing or empty
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Coordinates: 10°48′46″S 37°09′50″W / 10.81278°S 37.16389°W