When the line was electrified on 31 October 1973, a neutral section was installed a few hundred meters from the accident location, which soon became known as "the hardest neutral section in Romania" due to the fact that its situated on a steep gradient and that trains cannot go at speeds higher than 30 km/h (19 mph) in the area, due to the poor maintenance of the railway line.

The exact locomotive in question was 40-0759-7, it was made at the Electroputere works in 1983, and previously it had serviced in Bulgaria around 2008–2009, being used by "Unitranskom" at Burgas.

When the accident occurred the train was en route from Slatina to Curtici, carrying waste iron.

The locomotive was severely damaged whilst most of the freight cars got destroyed, falling into a river ten meters below.

The Romanian Railways announced that they will bring 4 heavy cranes to clean up the aftermath of the accident.