The Šakvice train disaster occurred on 24 December 1953 in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

(now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

). A local train was standing at the

Šakvice Šakvice (german: Schakwitz) is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,600 inhabitants. Šakvice lies approximately north-west of Břeclav, south of Brno, and south-eas ...

station near

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, when the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

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 disaster was one of the 20 most serious rail incidents by death toll at the time.Conly, Geoff & Stewart, Graham: ''Tragedy on the Track: Tangiwai & other New Zealand Railway Accidents'' (Wellington NZ, Grantham House, 1986) (page 181; list of 20 most serious rail accidents by deaths to 1953)

References

*''The Times'' (London) 29 December 1953, page 5

External links

Paragraph on this and other Christmas accidents
Train collisions in Czechoslovakia Railway accidents and incidents in the Czech Republic Railway accidents in 1953 1953 in Czechoslovakia Břeclav District December 1953 events in Europe {{CzechRepublic-transport-stub