This came from the AP by way of Firehouse.com At Least 7 Dead in Aussie Train Accident ............ MIKE CORDER Associated Press Updated: 01-30-2003 06:34:00 PM SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A train packed with commuters derailed during rush hour Friday morning outside Sydney, killing at least seven people and trapping others in the wreckage. All four of the train's cars lay crumpled or toppled along the tracks. Rescue workers were trying to extricate passengers from the cars in the rough terrain of a ravine 20 miles south of downtown Sydney. Seven bodies had been found so far, said Stephen Leahy, a spokesman for the Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter, a helicopter emergency service. He said at least 16 people were injured and 16 others still trapped in the cars. ``That is just in the initial search,'' Leahy told a Sydney radio show. The train, heading out of Sydney, jumped the tracks while passing through the ravine near the village of Waterfall. Television images showed the front of the lead car crumpled, apparently after hitting a steel electrical pole on the side of the tracks. The next car was damaged from smashing into the first. The two back cars were on their sides, but did not show great damage. The stretch of track was flanked by the steep embankments of the ravine, and rescue teams were having trouble with the terrain. Some rescue workers were dropped into the crash scene by helicopters, while others had to walk from ambulances parked nearby to the wreck. ``Access (to the site) is our major concern,'' fire brigade spokesman Ian Krimmer said. The train was traveling from Sydney to the steel works town of Port Kembla packed with commuters when the accident happened about 7:30 a.m. It was not clear how many people were aboard the train, nor how many were injured and trapped. There was no immediate word on the cause of the accident. No further details were immediately available.
Derailment occurred in a cut, on a curve. Looks like the lead carriage hit the wall hard. 9 are known dead. Yesterday was the third hottest day in Sydney’s history. Current speculation is that the rail was damaged from yesterday’s heat followed by last night’s rather cool temps. http://www.smh.com.au/specials/waterfalltraincrash/index.html [ 31. January 2003, 02:23: Message edited by: yankinoz ]
My sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and our prays go out to the 55 people injured. The official death toll now stands at 9 which includes the driver. I will not speculate on the cause as it would be imporper since I am employed to maintain the infrastructure. [ 31. January 2003, 06:35: Message edited by: Colonel ]
We have been seeing this on out TV screens here. It must have been a terrifying ordeal for passengers and crew. The difficult access to the site of the crash made things worse, it seems. If the extremely high daytime temperatures which have been prevalent in that area of late was a contributing factor, is there anything which could have been done to prevent this? Distorted rail is not unknown here in the UK, and we don't get the kinds of temeratures you have in Australia.
Death Toll has been revised to 8. There's a lot of speculation going on here at the moment. Adding to the problem is the "black box" recorder - it was not functioning.
Ive been seeing this very terrible train wreck on the news, i feel for all the people involved and their families.
