Torre del Bierzo disaster

The Torre del Bierzo railway disaster It took place on January 3, 1944 at the Spanish village of Torre del Bierzo, in district by El Bierzo in the province of León.

It was a collision in the gallery between three convoys, caused by a breakdown to the brakes of one of these. The official number at the time of the facts was set in 78 victims, but it was already clear ^{[ Clear to whom? Why? ]} that in reality the dead were between 200 and 250. Most recent estimates report a number between 500 and 800 victims. This discrepancy of numbers is due to an attempt by the government of Francisco Franco to reduce the extent of the affair in public opinion ^{[ without source ]} .

At 20:30 on January 2nd the Galicia , a passenger-postal espresso from Madrid for the Coruña consisting of 12 wagons, left the departure station pulled by a pair of 4-8-0 locomotives Mastodon .

During the first part of the trip, the train accumulated two hours late due to problems for the braking system, which was summarized at the Astorga station. Later an anomalous overheating was detected to an axis of one of the locomotives, which was removed.

Now three hours late, the train continued the journey to Coruña, continuing to manifest brake problems, exacerbated by the lack of the second machine (previously removed). During a steep descent at Branuelas, the brake problem manifested themselves as very serious, but the drivers decided to proceed equally. Arrived at Albares station, the Galicia He was unable to stop despite all the brakes were activated and the locomotive was thrown sand to increase the adhesion to the rail: the convoy passed the country while the person airline telephoned Torre del Bierzo to warn a convoy without brakes in the race on the descent.

The airplaneing of Torre del Bierzo ordered to stack crossings on the tracks, so as to slow down the convoy, but these efforts were insufficient: the train crossed the station whistling, with all the brakes pulled and sweeping away every obstacle on the route, launched towards the tunnel n .20 which began shortly after the station itself.

A locomotor of maneuver with three tow carriages was evacuating the station through the tunnel, after receiving the notice of an out of control run train from the airport. While the locomotive and the first wagon had already come out, the last two wagons were invested by Galicia .

The two wagons of the train in maneuver and the first six postal wagons immediately began to burn, due to the gas of the illuminating system and the wooden case.

Meanwhile, a third train consisting of 27 wagons loaded with coal was heading towards Torre del Bierzo along the line in the opposite direction. The accident had destroyed the signs, leaving the free line report. The driver of the maneuver of maneuver, unharmed, tried to run to the third train by reporting the accident.

The Carboniero train pulled the brake, the huge moving mass slowed down a little but not enough: he overwhelmed, killing him, the operator who gave the alarm and crashed on the wreckage. The collision was fatal for the four drivers of the third convoy.

The fire was thus extended that it burned for two entire days, making the identification of the victims impossible.

The censorship of the regime of Francisco Franco, whose government had just left the Spanish civil war, worked to reduce the spread of the news. The official Renfe report has also been lost.

Many people traveled without a ticket, so it is not possible to have a precise estimate of the victims. The survivors told of a completely full train, with many people who went to the Christmas fair in Bembibre. The real number of the victims is still uncertain, and is usually considered about 200-250 deaths, while more recent estimates speak of 500-800 deceased.