science

Hitrino train derailment

Hitrino train derailment is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hitrino train derailment rather than just read about it. In short: On 10 December 2016, a freight train derailed, exploded and caught fire in the village of Hitrino in Shumen Province, Bulgaria, killing at least seven people and injuring 29 others. Derailment At 05:37 local time (03:37 UTC) on 10 December 2016, a Bulmarket freight train travelling from Burgas to Ruse derailed in Hitrino, Shumen Province, Bulgaria.

Key takeaways

Hitrino train derailment belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hitrino train derailment to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hitrino train derailment from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

On 10 December 2016, a freight train derailed, exploded and caught fire in the village of Hitrino in Shumen Province, Bulgaria, killing at least seven people and injuring 29 others.

Derailment At 05:37 local time (03:37 UTC) on 10 December 2016, a Bulmarket freight train travelling from Burgas to Ruse derailed in Hitrino, Shumen Province, Bulgaria. The train had changed direction of travel in Karnobat and Sindel, and had passed through Aytos, Velichkovo, Dalgopol, Provadiya, Kaspichan, Pliska, Velino. Upon entering the area of the railway station, according to the order of the on-duty railway traffic manager, the train was diverted to a side (parallel to the main) track- presumably in order to free the main track which had to be temporarily used by an oncoming train coming from the railway station of Samuel. The Kaspichan-Samuel-Ruse railway is a single line. The train was supposed to pass through the diverting element of the railway arrow at a speed of up to 40 km/h (27 miles/hour), but actually passed at 78 km/h (52 miles/hour). The train company specializes in transport of fuels over rail and road. Two of the wagons, which were carrying propane-butane and propylene, struck a power line pole, exploded and caught fire, engulfing at least fifty buildings, one of which collapsed, trapping several children. The three train drivers (two in the lead and the third driver in the second electric locomotive) survived the accident. Seven people were killed and 29 injured. An evacuation of the village was ordered as 150 firefighters fought the blaze; it was extinguished by midday. The injured were taken to hospitals in Shumen and Varna; some of them had sustained burns to 90% of their bodies. It was reported that sparks had been seen coming from the locomotive of the train immediately before it derailed, possibly indicative of heavy braking.

Background The incident occurred on the oldest railway line in Bulgaria, connecting the country's main riverine port on the Danube in the city of Ruse and the main port on the Black Sea in Varna. The line was built during Ottoman rule by British private investors in the 1860s. The railway station in Hitrino (then called Sheitandzhik) was also the site of the first railway accident in Bulgaria in May 1867. The train operator Bulmarket Rail Cargo was founded in 2004 and in the same year acquired a license for railway operations. It operates second-hand Danish (Class 86) and British (Class 87) electric locomotives like those involved in the incident (lead locomotive nr.86.003 and second locomotive nr.87.025), as its mainline motive rolling stock, as well as diesel-hydraulic locomotives for shunting duties. Bulmarket DM, the mother corporation of Bulmarket Rail Cargo, has its headquarters and main base of operations, with its own railway yard, Bulmarket Port and fuel storage facilities, in the city of Ruse.

Investigation Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor opened an investigation into the accident. The owner of Bulmarket DM, Stanko Stankov, expressed his intention to involve an international team of railway incident experts from France, Germany and the Czech Republic to execute an independent investigation into the case. This was rebutted by the Attorney General's Office; it issued a statement that according to Bulgarian law such an investigation has absolutely no legal basis and justification, because the Attorney General's Office (Главна Прокуратура) and its special division for investigation of severe crimes and incidents — the National Inquiry Service (Национална Следствена Служба) — are the only legal bodies authorized by the country's laws to execute such investigations. On that basis, the police authorities guarding the perimeter denied access to the crash site to technical experts involved by the train operator. Residents were not allowed into their homes as a state of emergency was declared, but volunteers were allowed to be in Hitrino. Bullmarket DM also had to remove cisterns within 15 days. According to the State Agency for National Security (semi-autonomous agency within the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior, tasked with counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and high-profile corruption cases) the probable trigger for the incident was a railroad switch that had not been properly secured. The investigators from the National Inquiry Service of the Attorney General's Office found that upon derailment at the railroad switch a crash between the fifth and sixth tank wagons led to the towing hook of one of them causing a rupture in the lower frontal part of the gas tank of the other. The discharged gas fumes from the liquid gas reached a bakery located in immediate proximity to the railway station, and its furnaces ignited them, causing the violent explosion. According to ammunition experts, the chain of events led to an equivalent of an oversized thermobaric weapon with blasting energy four to five times greater than the TNT-equivalent. The court investigation concluded that the cause of the accident was human error, citing multiple issues, but ultimately held the train drivers responsible for driving the train at almost twice the permitted speed, directly causing the derailment. The main driver received a 15-year prison sentence, and the co-driver received 10 years in prison.

Reactions Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov visited the scene. He called for people to donate blood as there was a shortage in the local hospitals. Local response alleviated the shortages. Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski also visited the site, along with top rail officials. A national day of mourning was declared for 12 December 2016. The Bulgarian Government announced that a fund of 10 million leva (€5.1 million) was to be made available following a special Cabinet meeting on 12 December. The money would be distributed in two ways: 5 million leva (€2.55 million) would go to the Hitrino Municipality, and the other 5 million leva (€2.55 million) would go to the Labour and Social Policy Ministry. The Interior Ministry stated that people who had lost identity documents, passports and driving licences in the fire would have them replaced free of charge.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hitrino train derailment

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hitrino train derailment claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hitrino train derailment before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hitrino train derailment ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hitrino train derailment

In research: Hitrino train derailment appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hitrino train derailment in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hitrino train derailment is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2016 disasters in Bulgaria, 2016 explosions, 2016 industrial disasters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hitrino train derailment outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hitrino train derailment in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hitrino train derailment means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Hitrino train derailment in simple terms?

On 10 December 2016, a freight train derailed, exploded and caught fire in the village of Hitrino in Shumen Province, Bulgaria, killing at least seven people and injuring 29 others. Derailment At 05:37 local time (03:37 UTC) on 10 December 2016, a Bulmarket freight train travelling from Burgas to R…

Why does Hitrino train derailment matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hitrino train derailment?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hitrino train derailment.