Nishapur train disaster

Fifty-one wagons loaded with sulfur, fertilizer, petrol and cotton wool broke loose from their siding at Abu Muslim Station, ran about twenty kilometres down the track, then derailed and rolled down an embankment into the village of Khayyam. Hours after the derailment the cargo exploded during the clean-up, reported as the equivalent of 180 tons of TNT, demolishing Khayyam, badly damaging Eyshabad, Dehnow and Taqiabad and being felt in Mashhad, 70 kilometres away. Among the dead were the city's governor-general, the head of its electricity board, the fire chief and a news agency journalist, all at the scene. Figures differ: a spokesman from the governor's office in Nishapur said 183 bodies had been recovered with others possibly still under rubble, while later reporting put the toll above 300.

Date
2004-02-18
Deaths (Wikipedia list, low end where it gives a range)
295
What the pin marks
The accident site, as the cited page positions it.
Where the position is published
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nishapur_train_disaster

Category: Disasters & Incidents

Tags: explosion, iran, runaway wagons, hazardous cargo

Coordinates: 36.09861, 58.97139

Part of Rail accidents that killed 200 or more people since 1970

More in Rail accidents that killed 200 or more people since 1970

Related collections