Šakvice train disaster

Šakvice train disaster

Date	24 December 1953 (1953-12-24)
Location	Šakvice
Coordinates	48°54′51″N 16°42′05″E / 48.91417°N 16.70139°E / 48.91417; 16.70139Coordinates: 48°54′51″N 16°42′05″E / 48.91417°N 16.70139°E / 48.91417; 16.70139
Country	Czechoslovakia
Type of incident	Collision
Statistics
Trains	2
Deaths	103
Injuries	83
Route map Šakvice Accident location in Czechoslovakia

The Šakvice train disaster occurred on 24 December 1953 in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). A local train was standing at the Šakvice station near Brno, when the Prague-Bratislava express ran into it, resulting in 103 deaths and a further 83 injured. The Ministry of the Interior said there was gross negligence by a number of railway men who had since been arrested. Other reports said that the express train crew had consumed a number of bottles of wine. Other sources have over 100 or 186 deaths.

This rail accident was one of the 20 most serious rail accidents by death toll to 1953.^[1]

References

• The Times (London) 29 December 1953, page 5

1. ↑ Conly, Geoff & Stewart, Graham: Tragedy on the Track: Tangiwai & other New Zealand Railway Accidents (Wellington NZ, Grantham House, 1986) ISBN 978-1-86934-008-7 (page 181; list of 20 most serious rail accidents by deaths to 1953)

External links

• Paragraph on this and other Christmas accidents

Railway accidents in 1953 (1953) Location and date Washington, D.C., United States (15 January) Conneaut, Ohio, United States (27 March) London, England (8 April) Weesp, the Netherlands (19 June) Hai Van Pass, Vietnam (24 June) Manchester, England (15 August) Sydenham, Australia (19 December) Tangiwai, New Zealand (24 December) Šakvice, Czechoslovakia (24 December) 1952 1954