SakuragichÅ train fire
In the railway accident in Yokohama (Japanese桜 木 町 事故, Sakuragi -chō jiko, dt " accident of Sakuragi -chō " ) fell on 24 April 1951 at Sakuragicho station in Yokohama, Japan, a commuter train on the Japanese National Railways with a current-carrying wire of the catenary in contact. The following short-circuit led to the fire of the train. 106 people died, 92 were seriously injured.
Starting position
Day of the accident found on the Keihin - route (now Negishi line ) maintenance on the electrical catenary instead.
At the same time was carried out on the track on scheduled rail traffic, including with railcars of the type MoHa 63 The doors of War Series 63 could only be opened electrically, which was bridged by the door opening, but this was not for travelers readily recognizable under the seats attached. Also, were - due to wartime material shortages - were installed three small instead of a large window.
Circumstances of the accident
By 13 clock 38, a support cable was accidentally severed during maintenance. This slumped from the current-carrying contact wire and hung by.
Four minutes later, the danger point, a five-piece railcar design MoHa approached from Yokohama station ago 63 ( 1271b ). Meanwhile Pantograph caught in the drooping line, the current-carrying cable struck against the wooden cart, which caused a short circuit. The arc associated set the roof of the first car of the train on fire and put the system to the electrical door opening disabled. The car was filled with about 150 passengers. The passage door to the second car opened inward, but it was no longer possible because the panicked passengers, who tried to flee, on the other hand expressed. The windows were too small to use as an emergency exit. The wooden car burned completely within 10 minutes.
Follow
The accident led to the resignation of Hideo Shima, the Director, in charge of the rolling stock department of the Japanese National Railways. He was from 1955 responsible for the design and construction of Japan's first high-speed train Shinkansen.
Within two years of the series were MoHa 63 improves the insulation and the door opening in the clear in every 800 car.
For the victims of the disaster, a memorial was erected in the temple Soji -ji in Yokohama.