The Deadliest Train Derailments In World History

Date: December, 26, 2004

Location: Telwatta, Sri Lanka

Casualties: Estimated 1,700

Cause: Tsunami waves

A train named Queen of the Sea left Sri Lanka's Colombo Fort Station on December 26, 2004. The train was two hours into its trip to Galle when tragedy struck. A tsunami blasted through the trees as Queen of the Sea traveled through Telwatta. 

There were an estimated 1,500 paying passengers on board based on ticket sales, plus an estimated 200 people who had snuck aboard at various stops. There were only a few survivors and many bodies were never recovered or identified. 

Date: June 6, 1981

Location: Bihar, India

Casualties: 250 confirmed, but an estimated 800 killed

Cause: Wet rails and/or a cow

The cause of this train derailment in Bihar, India remains a mystery as there are conflicting accounts. Inclement weather was battering the region, causing some sources to speculate that a cyclone blew the train from the tracks. Other sources cite wet rails and the conductor's decision to brake in order to avoid a cow that had wandered onto the tracks as the cause of the accident. Whatever the reason, the train was carrying around 1,000 passengers when it plunged into the Bihar River, injuring more than 100 of them and killing somewhere between 600 and 800 people, making it one of the worst railway disasters in India.

Date: January 13, 1917

Location: Ciurea, Romania

Casualties: Estimated 1,000

Cause: Unknown, but possibly brake damage from overcrowding 

Due to a lack of investigation into the accident because of wartime secrecy, no one knows what precisely caused this derailment or the final death toll. Romania had just entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers and both Romanian citizens and Russian soldiers boarded a train to escape the advancing German army. It was believed that the train was overloaded - a regular occurrence during World War I - and that the extra weight damaged the brakes from passengers stepping on them. The train derailed, crashed, and caught fire after allegedly speeding up during a descent and failing to brake. 

Date: December 12, 1917

Location: Modane, France

Casualties: Over 700 

Cause: Excessive speed, over capacity, brake failure

French troops were were traveling home during World War I from Italy when the accident occurred. Due to a locomotive shortage at the time, two trains were combined into one 19-car train, powered by a single engine. While traveling at a high speed, the brakes on the train stopped working while traveling into a valley. The train derailed and caught fire, killing most of the soldiers onboard.

Date: January 22, 1915

Location: Guadalajara, Mexico

Casualties: Estimated 600

Cause: Loss of control

The families of soldiers fighting in the Mexican Revolution were loaded into a train in Colima, Mexico. President Venustiano Carranza had ordered them transferred to Guadalajara due to the war. Per president Carranza's wishes, a 20-car train was filled well beyond its safe capacity. Reportedly there were travelers hanging from the roof and the bottom of the train. The train began a steep descent during the journey and the conductor was unable to control it as it plunged into a ravine.  

Date: June 4, 1989

Location: Ural Mountains, Soviet Union

Casualties: 575

Cause: Natural gas explosion

In a strange convergence of events, a natural gas pipeline caused two passenger trains to explode off of the tracks. The pipeline had unusually low pressure, but pipeline workers chose to add more gas into the situation instead of shutting off the line and finding the leak. The natural gas gathered on the train tracks and ignited when the two trains created a spark as they passed. The explosion derailed several cars from each train and damaged the surrounding forests, with much foliage being completely incinerated. 

Windows in a nearby town shattered, trees were incinerated, and hundreds of passengers traveling died while many others suffered severe burns. Helicopters were used to move victims to the hospital for treatment. An estimated 575 victims lost their lies, but most bodies were hardly recognizable. An official death count has never been verified.