World's deadliest railroad disasters UPI Databank

A train derailment early Tuesday in South Africa's Natal province left at least 63 people dead and another 370 injured. Here is a list of high-fatality railroad disasters this century. (They are listed in reverse chronological order.)NEWLN: ------ 1990s

--At least 300 died, 700 others injured when improperly set switch sent a 16-car passenger train into a stopped freight train in heavy fog near Sangi, Pakistan, tossing seven coaches into waterlogged soil on Jan. 4, 1990

--80 died, 65 injured in the explosion of two commuter rail cars when leaking gas was ignited by a match near Patna, capital of Bihar state, India, on April 16, 1990NEWLN: NEWLN:1980s

--170 died, 1,000 injured when an express train jammed with Islamic pilgrims, some riding on top of and in between cars, headed to ceremony in Maizdi Khan, Bangladesh, slammed into a stopped mail train on Jan. 15, 1989

--115 died when a long-distance commuter train slammed into another train halted at a faulty signal light, and a third train headed in opposite direction rammed into strewn wreckage at height of rush hour in London on Dec. 12, 1988

--110 died when a train from Bangalore to Trivandrum derailed on a bridge over Lake Ashtamudi in Quilon province in India, sending seven of 14 cars into the lake on July 8, 1988

--90 died when an express train from Kunming to Shanghai derailed and overturned in China on Jan. 24, 1988

--155 died, 260 injured when faulty signal sent a passenger train with 600 on board slamming head on into a train with 300 near Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 19, 1987

--125 died when a trailer truck plowed into a train at an unguarded crossing in Kasumbalesa Sghaba in southeastern Zaire July 2, 1987

--392 died, 370 injured when train plunged into ravine in Awash, Ethiopia, in Africa's worst train wreck Jan. 13, 1985

--100 died in train crash in Empalme, Mexico, on Feb. 19, 1983

--120 died, 115 injured when a train derailed on weakened roadbed and crashed into a mountain ravine in Tepic, Mexico, on July 11, 1982

--At least 130 died in express-freight train collision near Algiers, Algeria, Jan. 27, 1982

--66 died in a head-on collision near India's Taj Mahal Jan. 27, 1982

--At least 500 died when a train ran off the tracks of a bridge and plunged 150 feet into the Bagmati River in Bihar state, India, June 6, 1981NEWLN: NEWLN:1970s

--153 died in derailment, Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), Aug. 30, 1974

--208 died in derailment, Saltillo, Mexico, Oct. 6, 1972

--107 died in two-train collision in tunnel, Soissons, France, June 17, 1972

--236 died in two-train collision, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 4, 1970NEWLN: NEWLN:1960s

--100 died in train derailment, Durban, South Africa, Oct. 5, 1965

--162 died in three-train collision, Yokohama, Japan, Nov. 9, 1963

--163 died in three-train collision, Tokyo, May 3, 1962

--110 died in two-train collision, Pardubice, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), Nov. 14, 1960NEWLN: NEWLN:1950s

--128 died in two-train collision, Rio de Janeiro, May 8, 1958

--250 died in train collision, Montgomery, Pakistan, Sept. 29, 1957

--178 died when train plunged into ravine, Kendal, Jamaica, Sept. 1, 1957

--143 died in train derailment, Marudaiyar, India, Nov. 23, 1956

--121 died in two-train bridge collapse, Secunderabad, India, Sept. 21, 1956

--300 died when train plunged into canyon, Guadelajara, Mexico, Apr. 3, 1955

--137 died when train fell off bridge, Hyderabad, India, Sept. 28, 1954

--155 died when train plunged into stream, Waiouru, New Zealand, Dec. 24, 1953

--112 died in three-train collision, Harrow-Wealdstone, England, Oct. 8, 1952

--160 died in train wreck, Rzepin, Poland, July 9, 1952

--119 died in train collision, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 4, 1952

--108 died when train went into river, Tangua, Brazil, Apr. 6, 1950NEWLN: NEWLN:1940s

--200 died in train derailment, Nowy Dwor, Poland, Oct. 22, 1949

--400 died in train wreck, Sumatra, Indonesia, Aug. 3, 1947

--185 died in train wreck, Aracaju, Brazil, March 20, 1945

--100 died in train collision, Cazadero, Mexico, Feb. 1, 1945

--526 suffocated in stalled train, Salerno, Italy, March 2, 1944

--500-800 died in Torro Tunnel wreck, Leon, Spain, Jan. 3, 1944

--200 died in train collision, Osaka, Japan, Jan. 29, 1940NEWLN: NEWLN:1930s

--132 died in train collision, Magdeberg, Germany, Dec. 22, 1939

--100 died in train collision, Kishinev, Romania, Dec. 25, 1938

--107 died in deraillment, Patna, India, July 16, 1937NEWLN: NEWLN:pre 1930s

--100 died when train derailed in tunnel, Brooklyn, New York, Nov. 1, 1918

--101 died in two-train collision, Nashville, Tennessee, July 9, 1918

--543 died in troop train wreck, Modane, France, Dec. 12, 1917

--227 died in three-train crash, Gretna, Scotland, May 22, 1915