Ajay Kumar at 16:43, 5 September 2023

2023-09-05T16:43:25Z

New page

{{Short description|1956 train accident in India}}
{{Infobox rail accident
|name = 1956 Mahbubnagar train accident
|image =
|caption =
|date = 2 September 1956
|time =
|location = railway bridge near [[Mahbubnagar]]
|location-dist =
|location-dist-mi =
|location-dir =
|coordinates = 
|country = [[India]]
|line = [[Metre-gauge railway]]
|operator = Government-owned [[Central Railway zone|Central Railway]]
|type = train plunges into the water
|cause = collapsing of a bridge due to torrential rain
|trains = 1
|passengers =
|deaths = 125
|injuries =
|damage = railway bridge<br>train
|map =
|map_name =
|map_state =
}}
The '''1956 Mahbubnagar train accident''' was a train accident in [[Hyderabad State (1948–1956) |Hyderabad state]], India on the [[Secunderabad]]-[[Dronachalam]] line between [[Jadcherla]] and [[Mahbubnagar]] on 2 September 1956. A train fell into a river killing at least 125 passengers after a bridge collapsed as a result of damages by torrential rain.

It was at the time the worst train accident ever in India and the accident is still among India's deadliest train disasters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/world/south-asia/india/10-deadliest-train-accidents-india-1317709|title=10 deadliest train accidents in India|work=The Daily Star|date=20 November 2016|access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref>

==Event==
During the [[1956 India floods]], in the night of 2 September 1956, a single span 37-metres long railway bridge was heavily damaged by flooding in [[Hyderabad State (1948–1956) |Hyderabad state]], on the [[Secunderabad]]-[[Dronachalam]] line between [[Jadcherla]] and [[Mahbubnagar]] 5 miles from [[Mahbubnagar]].<ref name=GN>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-mdSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KXYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7295,1032575 125 killed in Indian rail disaster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404205505/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-mdSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KXYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7295,1032575|date=4 April 2023}}, ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' (3 September 1956)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 September 1956 |title=Train accident between Jadcherla and Mehbubnagar. Lok Sabha Debates. Volume 6, 1956. Thirteenth Session, 1956. |url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/56023/1/lsd_01_13_03-09-1956.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404211147/https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/56023/1/lsd_01_13_03-09-1956.pdf |archive-date=4 April 2023 |access-date=30 April 2020 |publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi |page=39, 102 |via=Digital Library, Lok Sabha, Parliament of India.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Government's Decision Re. Report of Mahbubnagar Railway Accident. Lok Sabha Debates. Second Series. Volume 1. 1957. |url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1399/1/lsd_02_01_14-05-1957.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404204209/https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1399/1/lsd_02_01_14-05-1957.pdf |archive-date=4 April 2023 |access-date=9 May 2020 |publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi |page=28 |via=Digital Library, Lok Sabha, Parliament of India.}}</ref>

Just after midnight the bridge collapsed when a train tried to cross the bridge. The train and two passenger carriages plunged in the flooded river. A third carriage with second and third class passengers and a postal carriage with mail sorters remained hanging on the bridge.<ref name=PN />

At least 125 people were killed in the disaster.<ref name=GN /> Only 22 victims of the two carriages in the water survived.<ref name=PN>{{Cite news|url=https://philly.newspapers.com/newspage/176272870/|title=112 Killed as Train Falls In to Raging River|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=3 September 1956|page=4|language=nl}}</ref> Victims were stuck in the train carriages and others were thrown into the water. Forty bodies were recovered downstream, up to a mile from the scene. Bodies were transported to Hyderabad for identification. Most of the victims came from [[Secunderabad]] or [[Hyderabad]].<ref name=GN /> The mail that the train was carrying was lost.<ref name=PN />

==Aftermath==
Shortly after the crash, a local resident cycled to [[Mahbubnagar]], a route of 5 miles over muddy roads. The rescue operation was very difficult during the whole day due to the torrential rain. The [[Hyderabad State (1948–1956)#Chief Ministers of Hyderabad State|Chief Minister of Hyderabad State]] [[Burgula Ramakrishna Rao]] went immediately to the scene of the accident. Officials of the Central Railways came to the disaster site by plane from [[Bombay]]. Relatives of the victims came en masse to the [[Hyderabad Deccan railway station|Hyderabad station]] and [[Secunderabad Junction railway station|Secunderabad station]] to gain information about their relatives.<ref name=GN />

Indian railway minster [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] wanted to take political responsibility for the accident and offered his resignation to prime minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], but he refused. After the [[1956 Ariyalur train accident]] a similar accident about three months later, Shastri again offered his resignation and was accepted.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatleaders/shastri/page17.htm |work=Free India |title=NN: Lal Bahadur Shastri. "I Am Responsible"}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/lal-bahadur-shastri-sent-nehru-his-resignation-set-gold-standard-for-politicians/304341/ |title=When Lal Bahadur Shastri sent Nehru his resignation & set a gold standard for politicians|date=12 October 2019|work=The Print}}</ref>

==Investigation==
The conclusion of the investigation report was that the railway was to blame for the accident. It was inappropriate to have two bridges with risk guarded by only one employee. Next to that the responsible engineers were blamed.<ref name=investigation>[http://books.google.de/books?id=AXa6g_lJOWAC&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=Accident+Mahbubnagar+September+1956&source=bl&ots=I3wlFHljge&sig=577hKRzQgWQxZd7eH7bdsWP-y1A&hl=de&sa=X&ei=tiwKU-TLKqn-ygPCsYCgCw&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Accident%20Mahbubnagar%20September%201956&f=false Railway Board (Hrsg.): ''The Commission of Inquiry to Ascertain the Causes of the Accident to 565 Down Passenger Train to Jadcherla and Mahbubnagar on the Central Railway, on the Night of September 1/2 1956'']. In: Virendra Kumar: ''Committees and Commissions in India 1947-73''. Delhi 1976 [ND: 1988], page 213.</ref>

Due to the [[drainage basin]] below the creek and the amount of possible precipitation during the monsoon season, the advice was to build additional culverts under the railway line.<ref name=investigation />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{1956 railway accidents}}

[[Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Telangana]]
[[Category:Railway accidents in 1956]]
[[Category:1956 disasters in India]]
[[Category:September 1956 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Bridge disasters in India]]
[[Category:Bridge disasters caused by engineering error]]
[[Category:Bridge disasters caused by scour damage]]

[[de:Eisenbahnunfall von Mahbubnagar]]

1956 Mahbubnagar train accident - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 16:43, 5 September 2023