Other shadows that were staggering, hardened by cold, recounted that, at some curves, many people – men and women – had been thrown off the train," Yvonne Blondel wrote.

[7] The train stopped overnight in Bârlad after heavy snowfall had blocked the line, despite the efforts of soldiers and railwaymen to clear it.

The locomotive's speedometer needle was found stuck at 95 km/h (59 mph),[10] — the probable speed of the train at the moment of the wreck.

A survivor commented: "I sensed perfectly how the train jumped off the rails like a monstrous reptile of iron and steel, pulling all its travelers to mutilation or on the great journey to beyond...

Yvonne Blondel was rescued by two soldiers of the French military mission, who pulled her out of the train wreck exactly when her clothes were ablaze.

[3] The Kingdom of Romania was at war with the Central Powers, and the government, the military, and most citizens took refuge in Moldavia, while Muntenia, including its capital Bucharest, and Dobruja were occupied.

[13] Primary sources of information are limited to the testimony of survivors, memoirs, press, and interwar publications that have addressed the issue.

[14] Likewise, doubts have been cast on whether the photo of the wreck circulated by the media was authentic and depicted the actual derailment at Ciurea.

In the first hours after the wreck, several officials arrived at the scene – Dimitrie Greceanu [ro], Minister of Public Works, the prosecutor general, the prefect of Iași, but also security agents who began to question witnesses.

Daylight revealed the magnitude of the tragedy: "Passing through Ciurea I looked the disaster: wagons crushed, burned and teams of workers drew more dead from under the wreck.

[19] Another notes: "A whole string of wagons burnt, not even with their the metal skeletion, soaked like wax by the fire that consumed it... around the station everything seemed ruins and grave...".

Rumours soon began to spread: there were discussions about fortunes destroyed in the fire or looted by thieves, the death toll was amplified, and famous names were fraudulently added to the lists of victims.

[26] In January 2017, a wayside cross (troiță) was erected by the Ciurea town hall near the train station in memory of the unidentified victims of the 1917 disaster.