A tragic accident occurred in Prague 40 years ago: A schoolboy († 6) was among the dead!
The crowded tram of line 26 ran on February 17, 1982 around 4:45 pm along the Letna Plain in the direction from Strossmayer Square. At the turning point in the Špejchar loop, the driver Miroslav D. (then 39) overlooked that the turnout at the turnaround remained repositioned to the left and turned at a high speed of about 45 km / h. The car derailed and turned on its right side. The Tatra T1 tram then moved 10 meters along the pavement with a deafening roar, accompanied by sparks, and swept down the car and the public lighting pole along the way. “The passengers inside flew like in a centrifuge. Then there was an ominous silence, which was immediately interrupted by the moaning of the wounded, “Evening Prague wrote about the accident at the time.
A tragic mistake
Six people remained on the spot, another person died during the transfer to the hospital. In addition, the accident claimed 13 serious injuries. The driver Miroslav D., on the other hand, escaped, as did dozens of other passengers with minor injuries. He was later convicted as the sole winemaker and went to prison for several years.
They pulled the car out of service
The Tatra T1 was the first modern Czechoslovak tram ever manufactured at the Smíchov plant in Prague since 1952. Only a year after the accident in Špejchar, this type of car was taken out of service and replaced by the T2 and T3 models in the transport company’s fleet. + 10 OTV The Tatra 1 Tatra T1 tram has not been running in Prague since 1983.
Welcome to …
… the tram accident in Špejchar is the second most tragic in Czech history? The worst happened on July 13, 1947 in Ústí nad Labem, where 30 people died after derailing the set!