Aracaju train crash

The Aracaju train crash, which occurred on March 20, 1946, is the worst ever rail disaster in Brazil; killing 185 people[2] and injuring 300 others.[3] The accident happened near Aracaju, capital of the coastal state of Sergipe, 800 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro.[2]

The train concerned was a suburban service operating between Aracaju and Capela, Sergipe,[4] and carrying about one thousand passengers.[2] The locomotive, baggage car and three passenger cars[5] were derailed whilst descending a steep incline near Aracaju,[2] most of the dead being "smashed within the cars", "Many bodies were mutilated so badly that identification was impossible".[5]

Grief-stricken relatives came to the scene and nearly lynched the surviving locomotive engineer who, depending on the source, either took refuge in a police station[3] or fled the area later to surrender in the town of Laranjeiras, Sergipe.[2] The train conductors also fled.[5]