Crevalcore train crash

Cargo train n.59308, engine FS Class E652.100, left Rome in the morning of 7 January, headed to San Zeno-Folzano with a full load of girders. At the time of the crash, it was traveling at a speed estimated below 30 km/h on a single-rail stretch in the Verona-Bologna line near the abandoned station of Bolognina di Ronchi di Crevalcore.^[1]

The area was covered by a dense fog, a common condition especially in winter in the Po Valley. Visibility was estimated at 50 metres or less. At 12:53 Intercity 2225, a commuter passenger train, having left Verona at 11:39 and heading to Bologna, collided head-on at high speed with the slow-moving cargo train, breaking up on impact. The passenger cars were lifted by inertia and piled up on top of each other. Some of them suffered extensive damage even though they were all MDVE class, a very widespread Italian steel-framed design which has proven itself safe since the early 1980s.^[1]

The passenger train engine left the rails, leaving the first car fully exposed to the cargo train locomotive. The second car came to rest in an almost vertical condition.

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Two hundred rescuers were dispatched to the disaster. The fog, low visibility, and muddy soil impaired rescue efforts. Throughout the rescue operation, ambulances had to be towed by tractors provided by local farmers.

Early assessments led to estimate 13 deaths – including the four drivers of the trains – and over 60 injured. Five passengers had to be hospitalized in critical conditions. A toll-free number for relatives to receive information on victims and wounded was established. Fifty people escaped the crash unscathed and were brought to Crevalcore by a bus provided by the comune. They later reached their destination by another train.^[1]

Local supermarkets set up a canteen service for the hundreds of rescuers and provided first necessities for survivors.

In the end, 17 were killed and more than 65 injured. Among the victims were all four train conductors (Vincenzo De Biase and Paolo Cinti from the Intercity, Equizio Abate and Ciro Cuccinello from the cargo).

The cargo engine had to be demolished in place, along with some of the cars.

The eeriness of the disaster scene, along with the severity of the crash, led to psychological distress among both the survivors and the responders. Psychologists were sent to the crash site in order to cope with shocked passengers and firemen. The response to the Crevalcore crash was later used as a case study by Bologna University of Psychology.

Survivors' reactions were mixed: some of them displayed disbelief about the happening, while many were shocked into silence. Some exhibited irrational behaviors, such as crying for a miracle, or thanking the Virgin Mary while running in circles.^[2]

Feeling of powerlessness on the part of survivors who tried to help the injured was a major cause of post-traumatic disorders. Some survivors experienced "survivor's guilt", believing that they could have given more help.

Fog framed a horrific panorama for the firemen and medical personnel reaching the scene. The ghostly wreck – much bigger than expected – emerged from the fog "like a movie scene" (as stated by a rescuer questioned by University psychologists), just four to five meters away from the torn carriages.

Rescuers who concentrated intently on their tasks were found to have coped better with the psychological pressure. Some firemen kept working well beyond usual limits, trying to overcome their feelings with excessive work. Less experienced or less well trained rescuers experienced confusion and trauma when confronted with the unexpected enormity of the tragedy; this led to logistic problems, slowing the response.

Hallucinations were documented among some responders (for example, a severed human head was seen above the piled up coaches), inducing some cases of mass hysteria. Cries from the injured people were deemed a main cause of psychological breakdowns among the rescuers.^[2]

After the Crevalcore crash, new procedures of stress management and psychological counseling were developed to help responders better cope with the consequences arising from this sort of incident, moving from self-managed stress control (such as, for example, relying on the need to keep a "tough guy" stance in front of fellow responders) to a group-based approach (one such approach involves conducting "ceremonies" to help those involved rationalize the shocking experiences).^[3]

Almost all the responders, relatives and survivors who experienced mental problems ultimately managed to overcome them with help from counselors.^[2]

Train driver Alberto Guerro, a close friend of the cargo train's drivers, hanged himself five days after the disaster. He had already been suffering from post-traumatic depression after being involved in the Lavino di Mezzo (Bologna) derailment more than eight months before, and his friends' tragic endings are thought to have been a factor in his suicide. He is sometime dubbed Crevalcore's 18th victim.^[4]