Accidents/deaths - unusual, bizarre or just plain awful

I have read comments that it seemed to be going very fast.

That's what I thought about the state of the wreckage - no fire damage which would cause problems with identification.

Sorry if this is a bit gruesome but I always recall hearing that there was found to be one less victim of the Bradford City fire than expected as what was thought to be a body turned out to be a burnt piece of plastic.

What must the real bodies have been like.

P.S. Just found this quote about the speed.

Investigators say the tram was travelling at a "significantly higher speed than is permitted" when it came off the rails on a sharp, left-hand curve - and are examining whether the driver had fallen asleep.

Well I was going to try to be delicate. But I can't so I'll just spell it out. In the accident I was referring to, the entire physical being of a person was reduced to, effectively, a smear on the concrete. The only way the emergency services could initially ascertain the number of victims was by quickly obtained CCTV footage. Once it was apparent that nothing could be done the vehicle involved was left in situ until it could be removed under cover of darkness.

I had all this in mind during the recent Kos digs. If SYP genuinely believed that Ben had been run over by a heavy vehicle then I'm not sure what they were realistically hoping to find.

That sounds horrible. Stuff of nightmares. How awful.

Some latest from the beeb.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37947408

Can someone tell me if this was a train that runs on tracks or a trolley bus that runs on overhead cables or a bus that has a single track down a roadway? Exactly what is a tram?

From the pictures I've seen, it looks like a train on tracks to me - similar to those on the Docklands Light Railway.

Mimi - The tram that was in the accident and a similar one.

Yeah I saw those but the first one is of a train on railway tracks and the second one is of a bus on tracks that goes through roads where pedestrians are - so are there indented railway tracks on roads and how come cyclists don`t get their wheels stuck in them.

Same thing. The tracks are only different in built up areas (city ctr). And for obvious reasons they go a lot slower then.

But the trams goes on both type of tracks. It is slightly different to a proper rail/train track but very similar.

Thanks Andrew

I might be totally wrong. Just going off my personal experiences with the tram system. Which is not a lot at all.

How dreadful if this turns out to be the true cause of the accident. As with the lorry driver who wiped out a family, I don't know how the tram driver will be able to live with what he's done.

This was in the news a few days ago. It has similarities, but of course no confirmation about the cause of the Croydon crash yet.


Rail controller who caused German train crash that claimed 12 lives admits he was not paying attention because he was playing ‘Dungeon Hunter 5’ on his phone
The rail worker, named only as Michael P, is charged with 12 counts of negligent homicide and 89 counts of causing bodily harm
He was playing on his phone shortly before the February 9 crash in Bad Aibling
The 40-year-old was responsible for controlling signals which allowed both trains onto the same stretch of track
Two packed commuter trains crashed head-on at around 60mph


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3923940/

There seems no doubt that the tram was going too fast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38003934#"

Catching up on this one as well.

Latest:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/croydon-trams-back-up-running-9287768

No mention of the driver. Assume he will be prosecuted over it (although was it established what actually happened - apart from going 3 x the speed limit - but last I heard, he either fell asleep, blacked out or playing on phone - depending on where you read)

Andrew wrote:
[i]An investigation has been launched after footage emerged appearing to show a tram driver asleep at the controls on the same line where a crash killed seven people.

I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often really.

A few years ago I was having trouble nodding off, a friend suggested I try watching this.



I think I was putting out zzz's after about ten minutes.

I shouldn't actually laugh on this particular topic but that last post made me chuckle.

I got about 2 mins in and could feel the eyes starting to close.

Likewise if I ever have problems with insomnia then I now know exactly what to do.

Difficult one that.   Is it preferable to have the windows break and be able to escape or avoid the injuries from broken glass ?

What sort of glass are cars provided with?   What sort of glass is allowed in domestic doors?  Anyone know?

My knowledge of different types of glass is a tad rusty these days.

Here's a link though that may help:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Glass_types

A couple of awful stories.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/man-killed-freak-chainsaw-accident-in-bermondsey-named-as-gregery-bulbuc/ar-AAmYLBd?li=AAmiR2Z&ocid=spartanntp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-38980084

As regards the second one, I can't imagine what a till barrier is that could be so heavy.