The 102 train from Amersfoort to Amsterdam derailed near the railway bridge over the Merwedekanaal near Weesp and dropped off the bank.

The train was composed of two parts; the front carriages came from Zwolle and the rear ones from Enschede.

While ascending the slope of Weesp station towards the bridge over the Merwedekanaal the dike subsided over a length of 95 metres.

[1] This was caused by extensive rain in the preceding time[2] and the poor state of repair of the railway dike.

A surgeon who happened to be on the train took care of first aid, soon assisted by two doctors rushed in from Weesp.

About 2+1⁄2 hours after the disaster the first injured arrived on an aid train at Muiderpoort station in Amsterdam and were transferred to the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis hospital.

One of the victims was Henri Gorter, a Dutch cyclist, speed skater and ice skates manufacturer from Zwolle.

As a result of the passing of the train the embankment vibrated and the more or less liquified dike collapsed and was shoved aside.

The disaster instigated the founding of the Laboratorium voor Grondmechanica at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft, and expedited the soil mechanics work of Albert Sybrandus Keverling Buisman.