1995 Baku Metro fire
One of the metro cars after the accident, with broken windows to make way for the escape.
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| Date | October 28, 1995 |
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| Time | 6:00 p.m. – ? |
| Location | Baku Metro, Baku, Azerbaijan |
| Cause | Electrical malfunction |
| Statistics | |
| Deaths | 289 |
| Injuries | 270 |
The 1995 Baku Metro fire broke out in the subway system of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, on 28 October 1995, between the stations Ulduz and Nariman Narimanov. According to official figures, the fire killed 286 passengers (including 28 children) and three rescue workers, totaling 289, while 270 people were injured. The fire was deemed to have been caused by electrical malfunction but the possibility of deliberate sabotage was not excluded.
Although a number of people who evacuated the train survived, the fire remains the world's deadliest subway disaster. One person, Chingiz Babayev, was posthumously awarded the title of the National Hero of Azerbaijan for saving passengers' lives.
The Ulduz and Nariman Narimanov metro stations serve the northern part of Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. The tunnel between them was equipped with a controllable ventilation system, but had a relatively narrow cross-section (height 5.6 metres (18 ft), width 5 metres (16 ft)).
Before 1995 the deadliest subway accident was the Malbone Street Wreck of 1918 in New York City, which killed as many as 93 people. The deadliest subway conflagration before 1995 was the Paris Métro train fire of 1903, which killed 84.
The fire, caused by an electrical fault, occurred during the Saturday evening rush hour at about 6:00 p.m. The affected train, consisting of five fully loaded cars, had just left Ulduz station for Nariman Narimanov. The passengers in car number 5 smelled smoke. Later, passengers in car 4 observed white smoke, which soon turned black and caused irritation. The putative electrical malfunction (a sparkover or electric arc in electrical equipment in the rear of the fourth car) stopped the train about 200 meters from Ulduz station. When the train stopped, the tunnel became filled with smoke. The driver reported the incident and demanded that the power be cut. However, lethal emissions of carbon monoxide from the burning synthetic materials in the cars quickly affected the passengers. Because of difficulties opening the doors in one of the cars, the passengers were forced to evacuate through another car. Some 15 minutes after the fire started, the ventilation system was switched to exhaust mode and much of the smoke was drawn in the direction of evacuation. Several people were electrocuted while trying to grasp cables in order to escape the blazing train.
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Wikipedia