Ufa train disaster

The Ufa train disaster was a railway accident that occurred in the Iglinsky District of the Bashkir ASSR, Soviet Union on 4 June 1989, killing 575 people and injuring 800 more. It is the second-deadliest rail disaster in Soviet/Russian history after the 1944 Vereshchyovka train disaster, and the deadliest to occur during peacetime. An undetected gas leak from a damaged natural gas liquid pipeline and unique weather conditions caused a build-up of flammable gases in Iglinsky District and the surrounding area. Two passenger trains travelling on the Kuybyshev Railway triggered a gas explosion when sparks from overhead lines ignited a pocket of gas that formed on the railway line. Around one-third of the victims, many of whom were children, were killed by the explosion while the remainder died in hospital from severe burns and brain damage. The accident was named after Ufa, the largest city in the Bashkir ASSR, although it occurred about 75 kilometres (47 miles) east of the city near Ulu-Telyak. An annual commemoration is usually held at the Ulu-Telyak train station near the disaster site; there is a memorial at the site. It took place exactly a year after the 1988 Arzamas train disaster, another high-casualty train disaster in the Soviet Union.