Remembering Eschede 20 years later

Twenty years ago today 101 people lost their lives in the rail crash at Eschede in northern Germany. Many more were maimed for life. The locmotive driver survived and the loco was repaired and returned to service.

ICE 884, the Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, from Munich to Hamburg crashed at Eschede near Celle.

The train was called after the man who discovered the X-Ray.

The crash was due to a design failure in a wheel.

Two minutes before the crash a passenger brought to the attention of the rail conductor that something untoward had happened. The conductor told the passenger that before pulling the emergency brake he would have to see for himself what was happening. 

Those two to three wasted minutes could have prevented the catastrophic crash.

There was a memorial service at Eschede yesterday where 101 cherry trees have been planted to remember the 101 lives lost.