The Tangiwai railway disaster
- When
- 24 December 1953
- Where
- Tangiwai
- Reach
- Several regions
A lahar from Mount Ruapehu swept away the rail bridge over the Whangaehu River minutes before the Wellington–Auckland express reached it, killing 151 people.
The crater lake’s ice dam collapsed and sent a wall of mud and water down the Whangaehu on Christmas Eve. Cyril Ellis saw the damaged bridge and ran up the track waving a torch; the driver braked, but the locomotive and five carriages went into the river. It remains New Zealand’s worst rail accident. The Queen was in the country on tour, and her Christmas broadcast from Auckland addressed it.
Regions affected
Sources
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