The Bouhalouane train crash was a fatal railway accident that happened at Bouhalouane in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

on January 27, 1982 at 01:30 and killed 131 people. A passenger train travelling from

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

to the capital

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

and consisting of a locomotive and eight carriages stalled on a steep gradient leading to a mountain pass a few kilometres beyond the town of Bouhalouane in the

Chlef Province Chlef (, Berber: ⴰⴳⴻⵣⴷⵓ ⵏ ⵛⵍⴻⴼ) (formerly known as El Asnam) is a province (''wilaya'') in Algeria. Its capital and biggest city is Chlef. It is the 8th most populous province in the country, having 1.356.151 inhabitants (20 ...

of Algeria. The locomotive was uncoupled leaving the carriages unsecured; the brakes failed on the carriages and they rolled back down the slope to Bouhalouane where they collided with a freight train in the station. The noise woke many of the residents who rushed to the station where they witnessed an 'apocalyptic scene'. The passenger carriages were split open and stacked upon each other; screams of the wounded could be heard. Motorists passing the station were stopped and their cars became makeshift ambulances taking the injured to nearby hospitals. Heavy lifting equipment and cutting torches were used as police and army worked to rescue the injured, illuminated by spotlights. By dawn 100 bodies had been recovered. The final death toll was 131 people, with 200 injured, resulting as Algeria's deadliest rail disaster.

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- (14 Killed) - 23 August 1858 – Excursion runaway; brake not applied *

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(see also BoT accident report)
*

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, after a passenger train rolls back because of air brake failure - 15 August 2000 * Tenga rail disaster - 25 May 2002 *

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References

Sources

*''Derail: Why Trains Crash'' by Nicholas Faith, page 49, publ 2000 by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

books,
44 A BC SUCESOS VIERNES 29- 1- 82
(in Spanish) {{1982 railway accidents Railway accidents in 1982 Runaway train disasters History of Chlef Province 1982 disasters in Algeria January 1982 in Africa Train collisions in Algeria