Sudden death

The death toll in the runaway train disaster in eastern Iran is approaching 300 with more than 400 more injured, reports the February 19 Toronto Star.

Some 51 train cars, some of them variously loaded with sulphur, gasoline, fertilizer, and cotton, had rolled out of the Abu Muslim train station, outside Neyshabur, Iran, about 400 miles (650 kilometers) east of Tehran. They ran down the tracks to the next stop, Khayyam, about 12 or 13 miles (20 km) away. There, 48 of the cars derailed and caught fire.

The black smoke and bright flames were a major challenge to the firefighters and rescue workers who flocked to the scene. Nevertheless, a few hours later they had managed to put out about 90% of the fire.

Then, perhaps just at the moment the workers thought they had things under control, the train exploded.

The explosion was so powerful it shattered windows up to six miles (10 km) away. It was felt well over 40 miles (70 km) away; Iranian seismologists recorded a 3.6-magnitude tremor in the area. It devastated the clay houses of nearby villages, where an unknown number of people still lie trapped in the rubble. It killed 180 of the firefighters and rescue workers, leaving a scene of "shredded torsos, clothes ripped from their bodies, and severed limbs."

Even now, everyone is being kept a half-mile away from the burning wreckage because of the fear of more explosions. All anyone can do, it seems, is to wait for the thing to burn itself out.

It may seem petty to politicize this in any way, but I wonder if the Bush administration will offer any sort of help to this part of the "axis of evil." There is likely no particular reason to think such an offer would be accepted - but still, it should be made.

Update: CNN reports that the death toll is now 309 with 450 injured and may go higher, but rescue work is thought to be nearly complete. It also says the fire is now out.