3 June 1989
The largest railway disaster in the USSR occurred near Ufa. 11 km from the city Ashi, Chelyabinsk region At the moment when two trains, "Novosibirsk-Adler" and "Adler-Novosibirsk," passed oncoming, an explosion occurred - a cloud of light hydrocarbons formed due to an accident on the "Western Siberia - Urals - Volga Region" pipeline ignited. At least 575 people died, 181 of them children.
At 2:00 a.m. local time, a bright glow erupted from the direction of Bashkortostan. A column of fire shot up hundreds of meters into the air, followed by a shockwave. The roar shattered windows in some houses. (Gennady Verzyan, Asha resident)
Some time before the tragedy, a 1,7-meter-long crack developed in the pipeline transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gasoline. Escaping gas accumulated in a low-lying area where the Trans-Siberian Railway ran 900 meters away.
On June 3, at approximately 8:00 PM Moscow time, instruments detected a drop in pressure in the pipeline. Instead of searching for a leak, the crew simply increased the gas supply. Propane, butane, and other flammable substances began leaking through the crack under pressure. Engineers warned dispatchers of "heavy gas contamination" in the area, referring to the smell of gasoline. The reports were ignored.
At 11:14 p.m. Moscow time, two trains, both running late, collided in a "gas lake" that had accumulated in a low-lying area. Whether the detonator was a spark from a locomotive or a discarded cigarette butt remains unknown. The explosion's power was estimated at a minimum of 250-300 tons of TNT equivalent.
Trees burned like giant candles, cherry-red train cars smoked along the embankment. A single, impossible cry of pain and horror rose from hundreds of dying and burned people. The forest was ablaze, the railroad ties were ablaze, the people were ablaze… (Valery Mikheyev, "Steel Spark")
The blast wave blew out windows in Asha, 11 kilometers from the explosion. A column of flame was visible 100 kilometers away. The temperature at the blast's epicenter exceeded 1000°C. 575 people were killed and 623 were injured.
