page_title: Curinga train disaster
section_title: First response
hierarchical_section_title: Curinga train disaster / First response
caption_attribution_description: FS E.656.227 in Arezzo.
context_page_description: The Curinga train disaster, also known as the Lamezia Terme train disaster, was a railway accident occurred on 21 November 1980 between Curinga and Eccellente stations, in the Catanzaro province, Italy.
  Initial body count was estimated in 10 dead and 80 injured, later updated to 20 and 122 respectively. The final count went up to 29 victims and 104 wounded.
  Ferrovie dello Stato train 587 was traveling southbound from Rome to Siracusa on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria railway. At 2.40 a.m., shortly after leaving Lamezia Terme station and heading to Paola, rammed into some loaded cars lost by freight train 40679, a 41-cars convoy from the same operator leaving Lamezia Terme for Reggio Calabria.
  The freight train had crossed Eccellente station without anyone noticing it lost 28 of its cars and was missing its tail lights, and later stopped at Vibo Pizzo station understanding something went wrong. The boxcars got detached from the convoy at kilometer 266+200, when a clamp broke and set the boxcars free. The runaway cars came to a stop on the tracks.
context_section_description: Vigili del Fuoco rescue teams were dispatched from Vibo Valentia, Lamezia Terme and Catanzaro, along with Polizia di Stato, Guardia di Finanza and Carabinieri. Railway crews immediately begun to remove and dismantle the damaged coaches, in order to allow recover of the wounded trapped in the wreck, aided by the security forces personnel.
  Hospitals in Lamezia, Vibo and Catanzaro were overrun by the medical emergency, but ultimately managed to sustain the pressure thanks to help from Soveria Mannelli and Tropea clinics taking over medical assistance for patients with less severe wounds.
  The rescue operations took two full days, allowing regular service from 24 November.
  The accident news coverage was short, since just two days later country newspaper's attention was diverted to the tragic Irpinia earthquake.
  Engine FS Class E656.075 was dismantled in July 1983, the first in its class to be written off. FS Class E656.280 dismantled a few days later.
caption: An FS Class E656, similar to the two engines damaged in the accident.
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