July 23 high-speed train crash in eastern China killed at least 40 people and wounded nearly 200 others/AFP
PARIS, July 7 – Below are details of the world’s deadliest rail accidents since 2003, following the derailment and explosion of an oil tanker train in the Canadian town of Lac Megantic, east of Montreal this weekend, where at least 80 people are reported missing.
2003
– ZIMBABWE, February 1: More than 50 people are killed in a head on collision between a passenger train and a freight train transporting flammable liquids in the country’s southwest.
– INDIA, June 22: Fifty one die after a train derails in bad weather in the western state of Maharashtra.
2004
– IRAN, February 18: A train carrying fuel and fertiliser explodes in the midst of villages near to the northeastern city of Neishabour, killing 328.
– NORTH KOREA, April 22: Over 150 people perish when two trains, one of which is transporting petrol and chemical fertiliser, collide near the Chinese border.
2005
– INDIA, February 3: In Maharashtra again, 55 people lose their lives when a passenger train hits a tractor.
– JAPAN, April 25: A train that derails smashes into a residential building near to Osaka, in the west, killing 107 people.
– PAKISTAN, July 13: An accident between three passenger trains outside the central city of Ghotki kills 150. A thousand more are injured.
– INDIA, October 29: The derailing of a train 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Hyderabad in southeast india kills 110 people.
2006
– EGYPT, August 21: At least 58 people die in a crash of two trains using the same track north of Cairo.
2008
– CHINA, April 28: A collision between two trains in eastern China leaves at least 70 dead.
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