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The Hugstetten rail disaster occurred on the railway line between Freiburg im Breisgau and Breisach am Rhein on 3 September 1882. With 64 people killed and some 230 seriously injured, it was the deadliest train accident in German history until the collision of two D-Trains at Genthin Railway Station on 21 December 1939, which claimed 278 casualties. ==The Accident== The accident occurred on a railway line between Freiburg and Breisach that had been opened on 14 September 1871. The line had been lengthened across the river Rhine to Colmar in 1878. On 3 September, which was the Sunday after the "Day of Sedan", more than 2,000 people from Alsace (which belonged to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War) had come to Freiburg to spend a relaxing holiday in the neighboring town. At 8 p.m., the train was scheduled to return to Colmar. During the evening, an intense storm and rain had occurred in Freiburg, and the water had probably undermined the rails at the Mooswald Forest, west of Freiburg. Due to the rain, the train's departure was delayed, and when it finally was underway it was carrying some 1,200 persons in 28 wagons. The driver was probably speeding somewhat to make up for the lost time and the train was traveling as fast as 70 km/h. When the driver noticed a washaway and tried to brake without the help of a brakeman, the momentum of the pushing railroad cars forced 25 wooden railroad cars to derail into swampy terrain. Only three cars remained on the tracks. The first witness was the driver of a train from Breisach. He brought help to the scene and went back to his train station. From the rubble of the devastated train, the helpers dug out 64 people who had been killed. Several entire families had been killed. About 230 persons survived the accident but with serious injuries, and five later died from their injuries. Horse-drawn and manually pulled carts brought helpers to the site and injured to the nearby villages Hugstetten, Hochdorf and Lehen, and in the morning, the last dead and injured were recovered. Because the telegraphic cable line had been damaged, the Freiburg fire department arrived first at midnight to the accident site. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hugstetten rail disaster」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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