Fire, flood or disaster · 01.05.1897
Puka train disaster
On 1 May 1897 a military train carrying soldiers of an infantry regiment derailed about three kilometres north of Puka station on the Tartu–Valga railway. Fifty-eight people were killed and 44 badly injured, most of them soldiers. It remains one of the deadliest railway accidents in Estonian history. The train ran on the Baltic Railway line opened only a decade earlier.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
1. mail 1897 sõitis Tartu–Valga raudteel umbes kolm kilomeetrit Puka jaamast põhja pool rööbastelt maha sõjaväerong, mis vedas jalaväepolgu sõdureid. Hukkus 58 ja raskelt sai vigastada 44 inimest, enamik neist sõdurid. See on siiani üks ohvriterohkemaid raudteeõnnetusi Eesti ajaloos. Rong sõitis vaid kümmekond aastat varem avatud raudteeliinil.