Zagreb train disaster
{{Short description|Train accident in 1974}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
| name = Zagreb train disaster
| image = Spomenik zrtvama zeljeznicke nesrece-Mirogoj.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption = Monument to victims of the train accident at the Mirogoj Cemetery, by Vojin Bakić
| image_map =
| image_map_alt =
| image_map_caption =
| pushpin_map =
| alternative_map =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| mapframe =
| qid =
| mapframe_zoom =
| coordinates = {{Coord|45.80490|15.98840|type:event_region:HR-21|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
| date = 30 August 1974
| time = 22:40
| location = Zagreb
| location_dir =
| location_city =
| location_dist_km =
| location_dist_mi =
| country = Yugoslavia
| operator = Yugoslav Railways
| owner =
| service =
| type = Derailment
| cause = Excessive speed
| bus =
| trains = 1
| vehicles =
| passengers = 400
| crew =
| pedestrians =
| deaths = 153
| injuries = 60
| damage =
| property =
| route_map =
| route_map_state =
| route_map_name =
| footnotes = List of rail accidents in Yugoslavia
}}
The Zagreb train disaster occurred on 30 August 1974 when an express train (number 10410){{cite web | url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/prije-35-godina-150-mrtvih-na-kolodvoru/420172/ | title=Prije 35 godina 150 mrtvih na kolodvoru – Jutarnji.hr | publisher=Jutarnji list | date=21 December 2009 | access-date=9 February 2014 | last=Batinica | first=Mila | language=hr | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210193426/http://www.jutarnji.hr/prije-35-godina-150-mrtvih-na-kolodvoru/420172/ | archive-date=10 February 2014 }} traveling from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to Dortmund, West Germany, derailed before entering Zagreb Main Station (Croatia), killing 153 people.{{cite web | url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/najvece-zeljeznicke-nesrece--u-zagrebu-je-poginulo-153-ljudi/564352/ | title=Najveće željezničke nesreće: U Zagrebu je poginulo 153 ljudi – Jutarnji.hr | publisher=Jutarnji list | date=15 February 2010 | access-date=9 February 2014 | last=Handabaka | first=Antonija | language=hr | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210192553/http://www.jutarnji.hr/najvece-zeljeznicke-nesrece--u-zagrebu-je-poginulo-153-ljudi/564352/ | archive-date=10 February 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/zagrebacka-noc-uzasa-obiljezava-se-godisnjica-stravicne-zeljeznicke-nesrece-na-glavnom-kolodvoru/634288.aspx|title="Zagrebačka noć užasa": Obilježava se godišnjica stravične željezničke nesreće na Glavnom kolodvoru – Vijesti.net – Index.hr|date=30 August 2012|publisher=Index.hr|language=hr|access-date=9 February 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210193321/http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/zagrebacka-noc-uzasa-obiljezava-se-godisnjica-stravicne-zeljeznicke-nesrece-na-glavnom-kolodvoru/634288.aspx|archive-date=10 February 2014}} It was the worst rail accident in Yugoslavia's history till then{{cite news |last1=Browne |first1=Malcolm W. |title=Yugoslays Mourn 150 Killed in Zagreb Train Crash |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/01/archives/yugoslavs-mourn-150-killed-in-zagreb-train-crash-strollers-view.html |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=1 September 1974 |quote=...It was a day of national mourning in Yugoslavia, in memory of those killed in the worst Yugoslav train disaster on record....}} and remains one of the worst in Europe's history.{{cite news |last1=McMahon |first1=Aine |title=Timeline: Worst train disasters in Europe |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/timeline-worst-train-disasters-in-europe-1.1475253 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=30 August 2020 |language=en}}
The accident
The accident occurred when all nine cars from a passenger express train derailed and rolled over at the entrance to Zagreb's main train station, {{cvt|719|m}} from the entrance to Track IIa. At 22:33 hours the locomotive entered the station via Track IIa without any of its carriages.{{cite web | url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/30--kolovoza-1974--noc-uzasa-na-zagrebackom-glavnom-kolodvoru/153116/ | title=30. kolovoza 1974. noć užasa na zagrebačkom Glavnom kolodvoru – Jutarnji.hr | publisher=Jutarnji list | work=Reconstruction of the head of the Croatian Railway Museum Helena Bunijevac and curator Denis Marohnić. | date=2 September 2006 | access-date=9 February 2014 | language=hr | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210193552/http://www.jutarnji.hr/30--kolovoza-1974--noc-uzasa-na-zagrebackom-glavnom-kolodvoru/153116/ | archive-date=10 February 2014 }}
Many of the passengers died immediately; as many as 41 who could not be identified were buried in a common grave at the Mirogoj Cemetery.{{cite web|url=http://dalje.com/hr-hrvatska/najveca-zeljeznicka-nesreca-u-hrvatskoj-povijesti/272115|title=Najveća željeznička nesreća u hrvatskoj povijesti – Crna kronika – Hrvatska|date=24 July 2009|publisher=Dalje.com|language=hr|access-date=28 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403202214/http://dalje.com/hr-hrvatska/najveca-zeljeznicka-nesreca-u-hrvatskoj-povijesti/272115|archive-date=3 April 2015}}
The surviving passengers reported that the train had not slowed while passing through the stations at Ludina and Novoselec, about an hour before reaching Zagreb Main Station, and that it had been leaning dangerously.
The passengers were mainly gastarbeiters (guest workers) working in West Germany and their families, which included many children. The driver and driver's assistant were uninjured, and the locomotive remained intact. The locomotive is now on display in the Croatian Railway Museum.
The train was scheduled to arrive in Zagreb from Vinkovci at 19:45 local time. The driver, Nikola Knežević, and his assistant, Stjepan Varga, were both exhausted, having worked for two full days.
A subsequent investigation into the accident showed that the train had exceeded the speed limit by nearly {{cvt|70|km/h}} at several points, so that instead of entering the station at the speed limit of {{cvt|40|km/h}}, the train had been traveling at a speed of {{cvt|104|km/h}}. The crew also applied the brakes too late, so that the train quickly derailed into an unrecognizable wreck.{{cite web|url=http://www.dnevno.hr/ekalendar/na-danasnji-dan/65469-najtragicnija-zeljeznicka-nesreca-u-citavoj-hrvatskoj-povijesti-1974.html|title=Najtragičnija željeznička nesreća u čitavoj hrvatskoj povijesti – 1974.|date=30 August 2012|publisher=Dnevno.hr|language=hr|access-date=9 February 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210193955/http://www.dnevno.hr/ekalendar/na-danasnji-dan/65469-najtragicnija-zeljeznicka-nesreca-u-citavoj-hrvatskoj-povijesti-1974.html|archive-date=10 February 2014}}
File:View to the east from the overpass Strojarska street.jpg|The view to the east from Strojarska Road overpass, the direction from which the train came.
File:View to the west from the overpass Strojarska street.jpg|The view to the west from Strojarska Road overpass. The crash site is located about {{cvt|300|m}} away, {{cvt|150|m}} behind the carriages in the centre of the picture.
Aftermath
The engineer was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, and his assistant to eight years. The court upheld their sentence due to the duo working the previous 52 hrs as a mitigating circumstance in the accident.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/train-crashes-into-station-in-yugoslavia This Day in History 1974: Train crashes into station in Yugoslavia] (History Channel)
- [http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/accidents/zagreb.htm Danger Ahead! Zagreb 1974]
- [https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA3FN9DAXE405KPIK2VTNLHWHEZ-YUGOSLAVIA-SEARCH-FOR-BODIES-CONTINUES-FOLLOWING-YUGOSLAVIAS/query/Yugoslavia "Search for Bodies Continues Following Yugoslavia's Worst Rail Disaster"]. (31 August 1974, British Pathé TV)
{{Railway accidents and incidents in 1974}}
{{History of Zagreb}}
Category:August 1974 in Europe
Category:Derailments in Yugoslavia