Zagreb train disaster

The Zagreb train disaster occurred on 30 August 1974 when an express train (number 10410)[1] traveling from Belgrade to Dortmund, West Germany, derailed before entering Zagreb Main Station (then in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, present-day Croatia), killing 153 people.[2][3] It was the worst rail accident in Yugoslavia's history to that date[4] and remains one of the worst in Europe's history.[5]

Zagreb train disaster
Monument to victims of the train accident at the Mirogoj Cemetery, by Vojin Bakić
Details
Date30 August 1974
22:40
LocationZagreb
Coordinates45°48′18″N 15°59′18″E
CountryYugoslavia
LineBelgrade-Dortmund
OperatorYugoslav Railways
Incident typeDerailment
CauseExcessive speed
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers400
Deaths153
Injured60

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, 719 m (2,359 ft) from the entrance to Track IIa. At 22:33 hours the locomotive entered the station via Track IIa without any of its carriages.[6]

Many of the passengers died immediately, as many as 41 of whom could not be identified and were buried in a common grave at the Mirogoj Cemetery.[7]

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.[7]

The passengers found were mainly gastarbeiters from West Germany and their families, including many children. The driver and driver's assistant remained unharmed, and the locomotive intact. The locomotive is now on display in the Croatian Railway Museum.[7]

The train was arriving in Zagreb from Vinkovci at 19:45 local time. The driver, Nikola Knežević, and his assistant, Stjepan Varga, were both exhausted, both of them having worked for two full days.[7]

The view to the east from Strojarska Road overpass, the direction from which the train came.
The view to the west from Strojarska Road overpass. The crash site is located about 300 m (980 ft) away, 150 m (490 ft) behind the carriages in the centre of the picture.

A subsequent investigation into the accident showed that the train exceeded the speed limit by nearly 70 km/h (43 mph) at several points, so that instead of entering the station at the speed limit of 40 km/h (25 mph), the train was traveling at a speed of 104 km/h (65 mph). The crew also applied the brakes too late, so that the train quickly derailed into an unrecognizable wreck.[1][8]

Aftermath

The engineer was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, and his assistant to 8 years. The court upheld their fatigue due to spending 52 hours working as a mitigating circumstance.[7][6]

References
  1. Batinica, Mila (21 December 2009). "Prije 35 godina 150 mrtvih na kolodvoru – Jutarnji.hr" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  2. Handabaka, Antonija (15 February 2010). "Najveće željezničke nesreće: U Zagrebu je poginulo 153 ljudi – Jutarnji.hr" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. ""Zagrebačka noć užasa": Obilježava se godišnjica stravične željezničke nesreće na Glavnom kolodvoru – Vijesti.net – Index.hr" (in Croatian). Index.hr. 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  4. Browne, Malcolm W. (1 September 1974). "Yugoslays Mourn 150 Killed in Zagreb Train Crash". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2020. ...It was a day of national mourning in Yugoslavia, in memory of those killed in the worst Yugoslav train disaster on record....
  5. McMahon, Aine. "Timeline: Worst train disasters in Europe". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  6. "30. kolovoza 1974. noć užasa na zagrebačkom Glavnom kolodvoru – Jutarnji.hr". Reconstruction of the head of the Croatian Railway Museum Helena Bunijevac and curator Denis Marohnić. (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 2 September 2006. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  7. "Najveća željeznička nesreća u hrvatskoj povijesti – Crna kronika – Hrvatska" (in Croatian). Dalje.com. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  8. "Najtragičnija željeznička nesreća u čitavoj hrvatskoj povijesti – 1974" (in Croatian). Dnevno.hr. 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
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