Marhanets train and bus collision
Encyclopedia
The Marhanets train accident occurred on 12 October 2010, at Marhanets
, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
, Ukraine
when a train collided with a passenger bus on a railroad level crossing. Forty-three people were reported dead and nine injured. The bus driver, whose actions allegedly caused the collision, was killed in the accident as well. The collision was the worst single road accident in Ukraine's history by number of victims.
The collision between a midibus
carrying around 48 passengers and a locomotive
occurred at 08:30 a.m. local time (05:30 UTC) at an unmanned automated railway crossing. Of those who were killed, 38 died at the scene and the others in hospitals from their injuries.
Ukrzaliznytsia
's press service reported that a preliminary theory on the cause of the accident was the violation of traffic rules by the driver of the bus.
planned to allocate 100,000 hryvnias
(approx. 12,600 US dollars) to each family of those killed and injured in a collision. Officials said this was the deadliest vehicle accident in the country's history. President Viktor Yanukovych
, on a visit to the region at the time, declared Wednesday the 13th a day of national mourning. Yanukovych also ordered for an investigation into the incident to be carried out in order to determine who bore responsibility for the crash and instructed transport officials to install automated crossing gates at all railway crossings to prevent cars, buses and trucks from ignoring signals.
Road and railway accidents are common in Ukraine, where the roads are in poor condition, vehicles are poorly maintained, and drivers and passengers routinely disregard safety and traffic rules.
Marhanets
Marhanets is a mining city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of central Ukraine. It is located on the right bank of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper River. City has about 50,000 inhabitants . Its geographic coordinates are .-2010 accident:...
, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. Its administrative center is Dnipropetrovsk....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
when a train collided with a passenger bus on a railroad level crossing. Forty-three people were reported dead and nine injured. The bus driver, whose actions allegedly caused the collision, was killed in the accident as well. The collision was the worst single road accident in Ukraine's history by number of victims.
Accident
Midibus
A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which generally are larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long...
carrying around 48 passengers and a locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
occurred at 08:30 a.m. local time (05:30 UTC) at an unmanned automated railway crossing. Of those who were killed, 38 died at the scene and the others in hospitals from their injuries.
Ukrzaliznytsia
Ukrzaliznytsia
Ukrzaliznytsia , also known as Ukrainian Railways, is the State Administration of Railroad Transportation in Ukraine, monopoly that controls vast majority of the railroad transportation in the country with a combined total length of track of over 23,000 km, which makes Ukrainian railroad...
's press service reported that a preliminary theory on the cause of the accident was the violation of traffic rules by the driver of the bus.
Reaction of the authorities
The Cabinet of Ministers of UkraineCabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ukraine is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine also referred to as the Government of Ukraine...
planned to allocate 100,000 hryvnias
Ukrainian hryvnia
The hryvnia, sometimes hryvnya or grivna ; sign: ₴, code: , has been the national currency of Ukraine since September 2, 1996. The hryvnia is subdivided into 100 kopiyok. In medieval times, it was a currency of Kievan Rus'....
(approx. 12,600 US dollars) to each family of those killed and injured in a collision. Officials said this was the deadliest vehicle accident in the country's history. President Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
, on a visit to the region at the time, declared Wednesday the 13th a day of national mourning. Yanukovych also ordered for an investigation into the incident to be carried out in order to determine who bore responsibility for the crash and instructed transport officials to install automated crossing gates at all railway crossings to prevent cars, buses and trucks from ignoring signals.
Road and railway accidents are common in Ukraine, where the roads are in poor condition, vehicles are poorly maintained, and drivers and passengers routinely disregard safety and traffic rules.