A passenger train travelling from Oran to the capital Algiers and consisting of a locomotive and eight carriages stalled on a steep gradient leading to a mountain pass a few kilometres beyond the town of Bouhalouane in the Chlef Province[1] of Algeria.
The passenger carriages were split open and stacked upon each other; screams of the wounded could be heard.
Motorists passing the station were stopped and their cars became makeshift ambulances taking the injured to nearby hospitals.
Heavy lifting equipment and cutting torches were used as police and army worked to rescue the injured, illuminated by spotlights.
The final death toll was 131 people, with 200 injured, resulting as Algeria's deadliest rail disaster.