49 years ago, in 1975 on April 4, one of the biggest railway disasters in Lithuania took place. Žaslii railway at the station the horrific event that took place shocked the entire nation. The accident occurred today on the well-known Vilnius-Kaunas train route.
The diesel train was traveling from Vilnius to Kaunas. From Vilnius railway station the train started at about 16.30:70 p.m. The train was moving at a speed of about XNUMX km per hour. Near the Žaslii railway of the station an over-protruding gasoline tank of a freight train stood on the backup track. The train was not supposed to stop in the toys, so it did not slow down. The driver did not notice the tank in time, did not have time to slow down and hit an obstacle.
The first passenger car of the train, which contained the driver and took the brunt of the impact, overturned. The second car derailed, falling on top of the first. Both wagons caught fire. A third wagon got stuck between a tank and a ditch, and a fourth also derailed. There was a huge one fire.
The disaster happened on Friday, during the Easter period. This resulted in the train being overcrowded with many students going home. During the accident, people wearing synthetic clothes suffered more. In the first hour, about 80 burned people were brought to Kaišiadori Central Hospital. The third wagon suffered the most, it burned completely. All the passengers traveling in this wagon were killed. Nevertheless, official statistics at the time reported a smaller scale of the accident than it actually was. The accident is believed to have killed 20 people and injured another 200. The exact number of travelers is still unknown.
Although many years have passed since the disaster, the tragedy of the Žaslių railway station still remains a painful memory in the history of Lithuania. in 1975 a chapel pillar was built in this place to honor the memory of those who died in the train accident, in 1991. the monument was unveiled and consecrated, and in 2004 AB "Lithuanian railways" built a cross to honor the victims. On the route Vilnius-Klaipeda passenger train that ran in 1998 had an accident at the same place. When the axle of one wagon broke, seven wagons of the train derailed. All passengers remained healthy, no one was injured.
