Negligence May Be Factor in Train Disaster
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A provincial governor said negligence or brake failure probably caused an unoccupied train to roll down tracks at 90 mph near Neyshabur, Iran, and derail, causing a fire and explosion that killed 320 people.
Many of the dead were firefighters who had nearly extinguished the blaze when gasoline, fertilizer and industrial chemicals in the freight cars detonated. Other victims were villagers whose clay homes collapsed from the blast. About 460 people were injured.
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