Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1895-03-07
OVER 100 ARE KILLED
MEXICAN TRAIN HORROR WORSE
THAN BELIEVED.
Wreck on the Inter Oceanic Railroad
Near the City of Mexico La an Appall-
ing Disaster, 200 Persons Being
Killed and Wounded.
Death List Grows.

DcHtn lS19t NHTOWOs
One of the most ~frightful accidents in
the history of the Mexican railroads, re-
sulting in the killing of 1O4 persons and
the serious, If not fatal, injury Of nearly
q hundred others, occurred on the Inter-
Oceanic Railroad at II point twenty-five
miles from the City of Mexico. A few
days ago Il great number of persons left
the capital and the towns in the vicinity
to go on a pilgrimage to the Catholic
Shrine at Sacre Monte. Tickets were sold
at reduced rates over the Intcr-Oceanic
line and this road carried the bulk Of
the pilgrims. Friday a long train, aboard
of which there were 100 passengers,
was returning from the place of pilgrim
age. All went well until II point on the
line midway between Temamtla and Te-
mango vas reached. On this part of the
road there is a steep incline, the line at
one place on it having a sharp curve,
where it uns close to the edge of u high
precipice. This is one of the most dan
gerous places on the road, and was rem
dered more so by tho fact that the track
here was not in the best condition.
As the train began to run down the in
cline the speed increased, and soon it was
running at a frightful rate. The passen-
gers ceased their laughter and joking and
looked at each other with a strange fear
depicted in their faces. Steadily the
momentum of the train, which was sway
ing and bounding %fearfully, increased and
soon the dangerous high curve was struck.
Engine Hits the Curve.
AS the pilot wheels of the engine took
the curve the locomotive swayed outward
and either jumped the track or turned a
rail. 1t dashed across the scanty space
between the rails and the edge of the
chasm and then plunged downward. One
after another of the coaches, filled with
passengers, dashed after it and piled up
in a mass Of wreckage ut the foot of the
track, but most fortunately did not go
over the edge Of the precipice. As the
fifth coach left the metals it twisted and
broke the coupling connecting 1t with thu
coaches behind it. These coaches kept
the rails and passed safely around the
curve. After running q considerable dis
lance they were stopped by the hand
brakes.
When the engine and the three coaches
fell to the bottom Of the ravine there was
q fearful crash and, mingled with it, were
the shrieks of the affrighted passengers,
which could easily be heard above the es-
Gaping steam of the engine, which was
knocked to pieces by the fall. In the
meantime a number of passengers in the
other coaches had returned to the scene
of the wreck and devoted themselves to
the work of rescuing those imprisoned in
the wreck. The sight here was a %grievous
one. The carriages were shattered, and q
majority Of the occupants were lying be-
meath tho w~reckage. The shrieks and
means of the injured were heartrcnding,
while many of the unhurt women md
children moaned and walled in an agony
Of terror.
The train hands were American, and
some of them, as soon as possible, tele-
graphed news of the disaster to the city.
The intelligence quickly spread and caus-
ed the greatest CONSERVATION among the
inhabitants, many of whom had relatives
or friends on the train.