On May 8, 1842, the locomotive of a train traveling to Paris from Versailles, broke an axle. The carriages behind the locomotive piled into it, and caught fire - leading to a catastrophic inferno. Upwards of 200 people were killed. This is the story of the Versailles rail accident - the first major railway disasters in history - and the deadliest in the world at the time.

Sources

https://www.geriwalton.com/versailles-railway-accident-of-1842/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_rail_accident

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meudon_1842.jpg

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