Yarımburgaz train disaster
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The Yarımburgaz train disaster was a
head-on collision A head-on collision is a traffic collision where the front ends of two vehicles such as cars, trains, ships or planes hit each other when travelling in opposite directions, as opposed to a side collision or rear-end collision. Rail transport ...
of two trains that occurred near Yarımburgaz,
Küçükçekmece Küçükçekmece (; meaning “small-drawer”, from much earlier ''Rhagion'' and ''Küçükçökmece as “little breakdown''" or “''little depression''”, in more ancient times just as Bathonea), is a suburb and district of Istanbul, Turkey ...
, west of
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
in Turkey on 20 October 1957. With 95 dead and 150 wounded people, it is the worst train accident so far in the country.


Accident

At 22:45 hours local time on 20 October 1957, two passenger trains collided head-on on the single railway line at west of
İstanbul Sirkeci Terminal Sirkeci railway station ( tr, Sirkeci garı), listed on maps as Istanbul railway station ( tr, İstanbul garı), is a railway terminal in Istanbul, Turkey. The terminal is located in Sirkeci, on the tip of Istanbul's historic peninsula, right ne ...
between the railway stations Yarımburgaz and Ispartakule. The east-bound motor train with the train number 3, composed of three
diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
(DMU) cars, departed from Edirne railway station at 16:00 hours local time heading for Istanbul. The west-bound train, the Simplon-Orient Express with train number 8, left Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal at 21:50 hours local time heading for
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France. It was composed of ten cars consisting of sleeper cars, couchette cars and saloon cars, and was pulled by a
2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
, number 45501 of TCDD 45171 Class. The
signalman A signalman is a person who historically made signals using flags and light. In modern times, the role of signalmen has evolved and now usually uses electronic communication equipment. Signalmen usually work in rail transport networks, armed for ...
at Yarimburgaz railway station, Baki İnözü, cabled the movement of the west-bound train number 8 to the signaller at Ispartakule railway station, Cahit Fırat. As Fırat received the message, he knew immediately that both trains were in the same occupied block section, and a head-on collision would be inevitable, because he had just allowed the east-bound motor train to pass. Both signalmen hastily informed authorized officials around by phone about a possible collision, and requested sending of rescue teams to the railway line position at . The collision occurred at on the railway line from Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal, and almost completely wrecked the motor train. The cars meshed and bent accordion-like, and overturned. The express train suffered damage only in the front part of its first car. The crash was heard by a guard of the munition depot in the nearby 213th Infantry Regiment. All the deaths and injuries were among the crew and passengers of the motor train. The passengers of the express train sustained relatively less harm. 95 people including five crew members of the motor train were killed and 150 passengers were injured.


Rescue

The operation management at Sirkeci Terminal ordered a rescue train to the accident scene as soon as they received the information about the accident. Fire engines were deployed from nearby
Bakırköy Bakırköy is a neighbourhood, municipality and district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. The quarter is densely populated, has a residential character and is inhabited by an upper middle class population. The municipality of Bakırköy ...
Fire Department for fire risk on the spot. The
fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also a ...
of the steam locomotive prevented a possible fire by removing the ember from the accident scene. The governor of Istanbul
Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Fahrettin Kerim Gökay (January 9, 1900 Eskişehir – July 22, 1987 Istanbul) was a Turkish politician, civil servant, professor ordinarius and physician. He served as government minister, and is well known for his long-term position as governo ...
, Istanbul Chief of Police Hayrettin Nakipoğlu, Bakırköy District Prosecutor and Sirkeci Terminal Operations Deputy Director arrived at the crash scene right after the midnight to administer the rescue efforts. The prosecutor and the commander of the local
gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
started with investigation works. Both signalmen were arrested and sent to Bakırköy Court, charged for the main responsible persons of the accident. Military units from around were ordered to take part in the rescue efforts. The smashed train wreckage had to be cut apart by oxy-fuel welding in order to recover the bodies of the dead and injured. The corpses were lined up beside the railway to enable their identification by the relatives. People with severe and less severe injuries were picked up and transported to the next Halkalı railway station by a train, which was specially sent to the accident scene at 23:30 hours local time. They were then advanced in ambulances to ten different major hospitals within Istanbul. 50 passengers, who received outpatient treatment, were released soon. The day after the accident, the newspapers published the names of the dead and injured. Some of the severely injured people died later in hospital. Following the completion of the works for wreckage removal, the railway line was re-opened to traffic at 20:00 hours local time the next day.


Investigation and trial

An inspector of the
Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey ...
(TCDD) prepared an accident investigation expertise for the court, in which the following failures were outlined: * the steam locomotive of the Simplon-Orient-Express was not equipped with headlights, * the cars of the motor train were old and wooden. They broke easily during the accident and contributed to the increased death toll, and * the cars of the express train made an early braking impossible. On 26 March 1959 the First Criminal Court in Istanbul found the signalmen Cahit Fırat 60% and Baki İnözü 40% of guilty, and sentenced them to three years and two-and-half-years in prison respectively. In addition, they were punished to fines of 2,250 and 2,000 respectively. The court ruled further that the TCDD pay compensation to the injured and relatives of the dead.


Legacy

The steam locomotive number 45501, which was involved in the deadliest train accident in Turkey, is exhibited at the outdoor
Çamlık Railway Museum The Çamlık Railway Museum, a.k.a. Çamlık Steam Locomotive Museum, ( tr, Çamlık Tren Müzesi or ''Çamlık Buharlı Lokomotif Müzesi'') is an outdoor railway museum at Çamlık village of Selçuk district in Izmir Province, Turkey. It is t ...
in Çamlık village of
Selçuk Selçuk is a town in İzmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, that was once home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its previous Greek name, Ag ...
district, Izmir Province.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarimburgaz train disaster 1957 in Turkey Railway accidents in 1957 Train collisions in Turkey History of Istanbul Province Küçükçekmece Passenger rail transport in Turkey Accidents and incidents involving Turkish State Railways