Ufa train disaster - the deadliest railway accident in Russian and Soviet history, with 575 confirmed dead

The Ufa train disaster was an explosion on the Kuybyshev Railway on June 4, 1989 at 1:15 (local time) in the Soviet Union, about 50 kilometers from the city of Ufa. It was the deadliest railway accident in Russian and Soviet history, with 575 confirmed dead.

The explosion occurred after a pipeline began leaking liquid natural gas (mainly propane and butane), creating a highly flammable cloud that was soon ignited by wheel sparks from two passenger trains heading in opposite directions near the site of the leak. Both trains were carrying many children: one was returning from a holiday vacation resort on the Black Sea and the other was en route. Estimates of the size of the explosion have ranged from 250-300 tons of TNT equivalent up to 10,000 tons of TNT equivalent. According to official figures, 575 people died and more than 800 were injured. The exact location was near the town of Asha.