Operator VFF Leste Brasileiro Trains 1 Date 20 March 1946 Passenger count 1,000 | Type of incident Derailment Passengers 1000 Total number of deaths 185 Injuries 300 | |
Similar Lagny‑Pomponne rail accident, Saint‑Michel‑de‑Maurienne derailment, Bihar train derailment, Tsurumi rail accident, 1995 Baku Metro fire | ||
The Aracaju train crash, which occurred on March 20, 1946, is the worst ever rail disaster in Brazil; killing 185 people and injuring 300 others. The accident happened near Aracaju, capital of the coastal state of Sergipe, 800 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro.
The train concerned was a suburban service operating between Aracaju and Capela, Sergipe, and carrying about one thousand passengers. The locomotive, baggage car and three passenger cars were derailed whilst descending a steep incline near Aracaju, most of the dead being "smashed within the cars", "Many bodies were mutilated so badly that identification was impossible".
Grief-stricken relatives came to the scene and nearly lynched the surviving locomotive engineer who depending on the source either took refuge in a police station or fled the area later to surrender in the town of Laranjeiras, Sergipe. The train conductors also fled.