118:'s state censorship of the media meant that all news reports announced that the disaster was the result of a foreign boycott of Zimbabwean products, which had led to severely limited foreign currency reserves, so that trains were over crowded because motor transport cannot get fuel and that railway equipment is outdated because the repairs need cannot be paid for. Many news outlets also hinted that the crash may have been the result of sabotage by the rival party in Zimbabwe,
130:
still on the rails. Climbing back into the rear most carriage they gathered bed sheets, knotted them together they then disconnected the last two carriages from the train. Using the sheets they manually pulled the last two cars clear of the burning train thereby saving them from certain destruction. A locomotive later arrived and towed the two carriages with many uninjured survivors back to
Bulawayo.
129:
A group of Lions club members some of whom were rail enthusiasts, travelling for a conference in
Victoria Falls were asleep in their bunks at the rear of the train. Uninjured, they quickly left the train and could see that (a) The fire was consuming the carriages and (b) The last two carriages were
125:
The crash was most likely the result of out-of-date and poorly maintained equipment on the
Zimbabwe railway breaking down, which meant that the signal instruction intended to warn the approaching passenger train of the presence of the slow train ahead was never received by the signal and thus never
99:
to
Victoria Falls line. The fast passenger train, which was carrying over 1,100 passengers reportedly collided with the slower freight train after a signalling failure. The train left the tracks, eleven carriages being thrown in the air or overturned. Flammable materials inside the carriages then
107:
arrived quickly, and were able to rescue many of those trapped before the flames reached them. Total casualties were reported to be 50 killed and 64 seriously injured in the crash, with well over one hundred minor injuries. All the casualties were transferred to a hospital in
198:
191:
345:
333:
329:
184:
95:
The accident involved the collision of a crowded passenger train and an industrial transport carrying tankers full of a highly flammable liquid to a coal mine on the
144:
119:
404:
212:
399:
409:
166:
384:
394:
139:
317:
263:
290:
389:
299:
245:
208:
104:
236:
161:
308:
281:
176:
171:
272:
89:
378:
115:
84:
was a railway accident which occurred on 1 February 2003 in the
Zimbabwean town of
156:
360:
347:
103:
Although the fire did quickly consume both of the trains, the
Zimbabwean
96:
109:
88:
in the
Western part of the country about 90 miles (140 km) from
122:, a stance treated with severe doubt in foreign press articles.
85:
180:
100:
caught fire spreading to the industrial goods train.
70:
62:
57:
49:
41:
33:
28:
23:
192:
8:
199:
185:
177:
167:Media monitoring project notes on coverage
20:
126:displayed, resulting in the accident.
145:List of rail accidents (2000–present)
7:
264:Melbourne runaway train, Australia
246:Waterfall rail accident, Australia
112:, which is situated in the area.
14:
291:Chinchilla train collision, Spain
16:2003 railway accident in Zimbabwe
318:Stavropol train bombing, Russia
209:Railway accidents and incidents
45:Collision, derailment, and fire
405:February 2003 events in Africa
300:Vaibhavwadi train crash, India
273:Daegu subway fire, South Korea
120:Movement for Democratic Change
1:
237:Ghatnandur train crash, India
140:National Railways of Zimbabwe
400:Train collisions in Zimbabwe
410:Matabeleland North Province
309:Warangal train crash, India
426:
385:2003 disasters in Zimbabwe
282:Ladhowal train fire, India
255:Dete train crash, Zimbabwe
53:Signaling miscommunication
395:Railway accidents in 2003
327:
227:
157:Link to report from ZimTV
172:Comment on the aftermath
334:2004 ►
330:◄ 2002
361:18.61972°S 26.85139°E
105:Civil Protection Unit
366:-18.61972; 26.85139
357: /
340:
339:
78:
77:
417:
390:2003 in Zimbabwe
372:
371:
369:
368:
367:
362:
358:
355:
354:
353:
350:
315:
306:
297:
288:
279:
270:
261:
252:
243:
234:
222:
220:
218:
201:
194:
187:
178:
82:Dete train crash
24:Dete train crash
21:
425:
424:
420:
419:
418:
416:
415:
414:
375:
374:
365:
363:
359:
356:
351:
348:
346:
344:
343:
341:
336:
323:
322:
313:
304:
295:
286:
277:
268:
259:
250:
241:
232:
223:
216:
214:
207:
205:
162:CNN News Report
153:
136:
37:1 February 2003
17:
12:
11:
5:
423:
421:
413:
412:
407:
402:
397:
392:
387:
377:
376:
338:
337:
328:
325:
324:
321:
320:
311:
302:
293:
284:
275:
266:
257:
248:
239:
229:
228:
225:
224:
206:
204:
203:
196:
189:
181:
175:
174:
169:
164:
159:
152:
151:External links
149:
148:
147:
142:
135:
132:
90:Victoria Falls
76:
75:
72:
68:
67:
64:
60:
59:
55:
54:
51:
47:
46:
43:
39:
38:
35:
31:
30:
26:
25:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
422:
411:
408:
406:
403:
401:
398:
396:
393:
391:
388:
386:
383:
382:
380:
373:
370:
335:
331:
326:
319:
312:
310:
303:
301:
294:
292:
285:
283:
276:
274:
267:
265:
258:
256:
249:
247:
240:
238:
231:
230:
226:
221:
210:
202:
197:
195:
190:
188:
183:
182:
179:
173:
170:
168:
165:
163:
160:
158:
155:
154:
150:
146:
143:
141:
138:
137:
133:
131:
127:
123:
121:
117:
116:Robert Mugabe
113:
111:
106:
101:
98:
93:
91:
87:
83:
73:
69:
65:
61:
56:
52:
48:
44:
42:Incident type
40:
36:
32:
27:
22:
19:
342:
254:
128:
124:
114:
102:
94:
81:
79:
18:
364: /
379:Categories
352:26°51′05″E
349:18°37′11″S
58:Statistics
134:See also
97:Bulawayo
332:
316:
307:
298:
289:
280:
271:
262:
253:
244:
235:
215: (
71:Injured
29:Details
314:Dec 5
305:Jul 2
296:Jun 23
287:Jun 3
278:May 23
269:Feb 18
260:Feb 3
251:Feb 1
242:Jan 31
233:Jan 3
110:Hwange
63:Deaths
50:Cause
217:2003
213:2003
86:Dete
80:The
34:Date
211:in
381::
92:.
74:64
66:50
219:)
200:e
193:t
186:v
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.