Aracaju train crash
The Aracaju train crash, which occurred on March 20, 1946, is the worst ever rail disaster in Brazil; resulting in the deaths of 185 people[2] and 300 injured.[3] The accident happened near Aracaju, capital of the coastal state of Sergipe, 800 miles (1,287 km) northeast of Rio de Janeiro.[2] The train concerned was a suburban service operating between Aracaju and Capela, Sergipe,[4] and carrying about one thousand passengers.[2] The locomotive, baggage car and three passenger cars[5] were derailed whilst descending a steep incline near Aracaju,[2] most of the dead being "smashed within the cars", "Many bodies were mutilated so badly that identification was impossible".[5] Grief-stricken relatives came to the scene and nearly lynched the surviving locomotive engineer who, depending on the source, either took refuge in a police station[3] or fled the area later to surrender in the town of Laranjeiras, Sergipe.[2] The train conductors also fled.[5] References
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