Borki Incident
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| Date | October 29 1888 |
|---|---|
| Location | Near Borki station, Kharkov Governorate |
| Country |
Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) |
| Rail line | Kursk-Kharkov mainline |
| Operator | Kursk-Kharkov-Azov Railroad |
| Type of incident | Derailment |
| Cause | Inconclusive: combination of speeding, overload and faulty track |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 21 |
| Injuries | 14 to 35 |
Coordinates: 49°41′15.30″N 36°07′41.50″E / 49.6875833°N 36.1281944°E
The Borki train disaster occurred on October 29 1888 near Borki station in the former Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine), 295 kilometers south of Kursk, when the imperial train carrying Tsar Alexander III of Russia and his family from Crimea to Saint Petersburg derailed at high speed. Twenty-one people died at the scene and two later, and many others were injured. According to the official version of events, Alexander held the collapsed roof of the royal car on his shoulders while his family escaped the crash site uninjured. The story of the miraculous escape became part of contemporary lore and government propaganda. The investigation into the crash, led by Anatoly Koni, resulted in the appointment of railway manager and future Prime Minister of the Russian Empire Sergei Witte as the Director of State Railways.
The imperial family was en route from Crimea to Saint Petersburg. Contrary to railway rules of the period that limited commercial passenger trains to 42 axles, the imperial train of fifteen carriages actually had 64 axles, well above the safety limit. Its weight was within the limits set for freight trains, but the train actually travelled at express speeds. It was hauled by two steam engines, a combination that caused dangerous vibrations that, according to Sergei Witte, directly caused the derailment. Technical flaws of the royal train were known in advance, yet it had operated for nearly a decade without incidents.
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Wikipedia