#train accident

On June 25, 1923, a Manhattan-bound train on the Fifth Ave. line of the BMT, composed of two antiquated wooden cars, tore from the elevated tracks, 40 feet above the street, and crashed into the heart of Brooklyn's business section. It killed six people and injured 69.

At least 39 people were killed, and dozens were injured after a high-speed train collision in southern Spain on January 17.

A Madrid-bound Iryo Freccia 1000 derailed near Adamuz, outside Córdoba, crossed onto opposing tracks and struck an oncoming service travelling between Madrid and Huelva. Approximately 400 passengers and staff were on board both trains.

Tak ada yang sempat berkata apa pun.

Yang terdengar hanya suara yang terlalu besar untuk dipahami oleh manusia. Bukan ledakan. Bukan dentuman. Sesuatu di antaranya. Suara ketika besi dipaksa berhenti oleh besi lain yang tak sempat mengalah.

Lalu semuanya berpindah tempat dalam satu hentakan.

Lantai menjadi dinding. Dinding menjadi lantai.

Tubuh terlempar. Tanpa sempat tahu ke arah mana harus melindungi diri.

Tas melayang. Kaca pecah ke segala arah. Pegangan tangan berubah fungsinya menjadi benda yang menahan. Atau justru menghantam.

Tak ada yang duduk di kursinya lagi.

Kursi-kursi itu sendiri tak lagi berada di tempatnya. Sebagian terlipat. Sebagian menindih. Sebagian patah. Seperti sendi yang dipaksa menekuk ke arah yang tak pernah direncanakan.

Di sela logam yang saling tumpang tindih, ada suara yang paling kecil tapi paling sulit dilupakan.

Napas yang tercekat.

Seseorang mencoba memanggil nama, tapi suaranya tertahan oleh debu dan bau panas yang tiba-tiba memenuhi paru-paru.

Besi yang bergesekan memiliki bau khas. Tajam. Hangus. Seperti hujan yang jatuh di atas rel panas. Hanya saja ini bukan hujan. Dan rel itu tak lagi utuh. Kereta itu lebih gelap daripada biasanya.

Gelap datang bukan karena malam. Tapi karena posisi tubuh tak lagi menyadari... yang mana atas dan yang mana bawah.

Seorang perempuan membuka mata dan yang ia lihat bukan langit-langit gerbong, tapi sepatu seseorang yang menekan bahunya. Ia tak tahu itu sepatu siapa. Ia hanya tahu dadanya sulit mengembang.

Di dekatnya, seseorang tampak tak bergerak. Satu tangan masih memeluk tas berisi bekal untuk bayinya. Sesuatu yang ia jaga lebih erat daripada nyawanya sendiri. Sementara di tangan yang lain, layar gawainya menyala menampilkan pesan yang belum sempat dibalas.

Tak ada teriakan panjang. Yang ada hanya potongan suara pendek.

Tolong. Aduh. Oh, Tuhan...

Lalu hening yang patah-patah.

Di luar, orang-orang berlari mendekat. Tapi di dalam gerbong itu, waktu sudah terlanjur pecah. Tak lagi berjalan lurus. Tersebar di antara serpihan kaca. Di antara besi yang tertekuk. Di antara tubuh yang saling menahan berat yang tak seharusnya mereka pikul.

Di titik itu, hidup dan mati berada sangat dekat. Hanya dibatasi oleh satu napas yang berhasil lolos atau tidak.

Tak ada yang tampak seperti kecelakaan di film. Tak ada yang dramatis. Hanya kekacauan yang terlalu nyata untuk diberi nama.

Dan di tengah semua itu, satu hal yang paling jelas.

Perjalanan itu tak pernah tiba. Tapi terhenti. Membiarkan penumpangnya tertinggal di detik abadi.

I wanna ramble about the train situation in Spain. TW mentions of death

And she told me where to look.

Here, internet, I will try and say for this day:

Today she helped me go to the shop to buy food. I can’t walk very well. I don’t know why, but I’m due a few tests. And the temperature is beginning to fall. Soon it will be dangerous to step outside again. I take pictures of everything on my camera because it’s my way of archiving things, keeping them forever. To never lose a single memory.

She isn’t from Chernikslovaya, but her father remembers the train line direct to CHK from 1978 onwards. She didn’t have the local rumour but there were a lot of accidents on that line. “Rail jumps” are common in this part of the world, but it wasn’t like that, people would be struck in the wrong way. None of the missing A-B-V Blok complex people ever showed up on the rails, so that can’t be related. Every city has their fair share of drunks and schizophrenics but there were people who survived rail jumps.

And those left behind covered by a tarp. You could smell the iron and the sharpness of antiseptic and the line would close for days, then reopen again, just like they do in everywhere damn it, I’ve never seen one myself. I don’t want to.

Because I’ve seen the aftermath. Or at least, I’ve found the story by myself.

Sonia says she will tell me more, and I might even tell her about the first disappearance, 20 years ago, that kickstarted my stupid obsession with this whole mess:

A 24-year-old woman M. “Cyen”

Or “Chen”

I don’t know

It has been almost a year since the train accident and that just alerted my brain chemistry. Not only cause i lost people i knew. We were in high school together, a year older than me. They used to come to our class so they could hug our teachers and talk to them about their problems. I remember that I saw the twin girls a day before the accident. How I admired them, for always being together, being jealous too as i lost my twin brother before he even had the change to live. Them and their cousin were always together. I remember waking up at the first of March last year and seeing the news in tv. About the three girls that were missing after the accident from my town. I immediately felt scared, and sad, but also confused and angry, but i was so scared for all of my friends and for the people who i didn't even know. Family members of mine were calling my mom asking if i am alright. And then as the hours were passing, they were finding more dead bodies. Of young people. Because of course they were young. They were students and easily everyone could be one of these 57 people who died that night. I could be one of them.

A year later and my opinions are the same, my anger and sadness haven't left cause there's no justice for the families and victims. There's no peace. A year later and there's no way I'm gonna use a train ever again. I remember the first weeks after the train accident i used to have nightmares, about me being inside that train and burning alive, the moment i was seeing train tracks or a train i was immediately in a panic mood. I can not even imagine the pain the survivors are still carrying to this day.

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Last night, a passenger following the Athens-Thessaloniki route and a freight train going the opposite direction collided. The accident also caused a fire. Authorities have so far announced the death toll as 36 and the number of injured as 130.