Memories of a railway tragedy: a train in Židenice swept people like skittles
THE SPEED HIMBED THE BUS
The gate at the railway crossing in 1980. After the accident, the crossing was canceled and the crossing with the gate remained only for pedestrians.
More passengers than usual had to transport a bus from Podivín in the Břeclav region to Velké Bílovice just before Christmas 1950. Some went to celebrate the holidays with loved ones, some went on their last pre-Christmas shopping. The bus set off before half past four in gloomy winter weather, and was swept shortly afterwards by an express train from Bratislava to Prague.
In the direction from Velké Bílovice, a truck was coming to the lowered barriers, and a bus was coming from Podivín. Immediately, however, the gatekeeper Eduard Šukelt, who served on the track for twenty-seven years, made a fatal mistake. He gave time off for the express train, which was coming from Břeclav, but at the same time he raised the barriers at the crossing.
The bus and the truck therefore hit the track. The truck arrived at the tracks a little earlier, so the bus driver braked and cleared the way. However, he was a little late. “The truck left the railway area without accidents, but the moment the bus was still there, an express train approached at full speed, catching the front of the bus. He was suddenly turned and towed about fifteen meters towards the station. The driver slowed down quickly, but he could not defend the national disaster, “the Ministry of Security wrote at the time of the tragedy.
A strong impact broke the bus in half. Life in it died out for thirty-four people, the only victim from the train was the fireman Oldřich Zícha. “I was standing behind the driver on the bus and I remember him suddenly talking like there was something in the back. The one who clicked the tickets shouted at the driver to move or catch us. But the bus slipped on the tracks. And I don’t remember any more, “Růžena Zapletalová from Velké Bílovice, a survivor who once described an unfortunate event, described.