Thirty German tourists and a Hungarian coach driver were tragically killed earlier today (October 2) when a passenger train slammed into their coach in central Hungary, slicing it in half. The coach was hit by the Budapest-Nagykanizsa train just after 0830 8.30am as it crossed a railway line near Siofok on the shores of Lake Balaton, Hungary's leading tourist area.
COMMENT: The coach was carrying 38 passengers. Twenty-eight were killed in the crash, three died later in hospital. The driver was among the dead. The other passengers were injured, some seriously. According to police, the coach had attempted to cross the railway line even though red stop lights had warned of an oncoming train. Zoltan Mandoki, the head of Hungary's national railways, blamed the accident on the coach driver, saying he had jumped the stop light.
The German Foreign Ministry made a statement that it believes most of the passengers were from the northern states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. The German coach travel association said the passengers had booked their trip with travel operator Maxim Reisen in Cloppenburg, northern Germany. That firm had then chartered a coach from Ursel Reisen in Loehne near Bielefeld. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy visited the scene with the German ambassador and expressed shock.
Last July, 19 Poles were killed and 32 injured in the same part of Hungary when a bus taking them on a pilgrimage to Bosnia collided into a roundabout and overturned. In September 1992, 16 German also died in a bus crash in Hungary. Eighteen people were also killed at the same rail crossing in a similar accident in 1982. PM Medgyessy said his government would now into whether more safety barriers and warnings should be installed at railway crossings.
As I've said in the past, bus accidents claim the lives of far too many tourists all over the world, suggesting that national governments need to institute more rigorous regulations governing lower hours for drivers, more frequent rest stops, adherence to the rules of the road, the use of smaller and multiple buses that are more maneuverable, and institute more prominently placed lights and alarms in areas where collisions are likely to occur. This incident is also a chilling reminder that we never quite know when our time is up. Hence, the importance of always having our personal affairs in order (last will and testament, advanced medical directive, power of attorney and written instructions to our survivors).
COMMENT: The coach was carrying 38 passengers. Twenty-eight were killed in the crash, three died later in hospital. The driver was among the dead. The other passengers were injured, some seriously. According to police, the coach had attempted to cross the railway line even though red stop lights had warned of an oncoming train. Zoltan Mandoki, the head of Hungary's national railways, blamed the accident on the coach driver, saying he had jumped the stop light.
The German Foreign Ministry made a statement that it believes most of the passengers were from the northern states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. The German coach travel association said the passengers had booked their trip with travel operator Maxim Reisen in Cloppenburg, northern Germany. That firm had then chartered a coach from Ursel Reisen in Loehne near Bielefeld. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy visited the scene with the German ambassador and expressed shock.
Last July, 19 Poles were killed and 32 injured in the same part of Hungary when a bus taking them on a pilgrimage to Bosnia collided into a roundabout and overturned. In September 1992, 16 German also died in a bus crash in Hungary. Eighteen people were also killed at the same rail crossing in a similar accident in 1982. PM Medgyessy said his government would now into whether more safety barriers and warnings should be installed at railway crossings.
As I've said in the past, bus accidents claim the lives of far too many tourists all over the world, suggesting that national governments need to institute more rigorous regulations governing lower hours for drivers, more frequent rest stops, adherence to the rules of the road, the use of smaller and multiple buses that are more maneuverable, and institute more prominently placed lights and alarms in areas where collisions are likely to occur. This incident is also a chilling reminder that we never quite know when our time is up. Hence, the importance of always having our personal affairs in order (last will and testament, advanced medical directive, power of attorney and written instructions to our survivors).
