Hyde railway disaster

Hyde railway disaster
Details
Date4 June 1943
13:45 NZST
LocationHyde, Otago, South Island
CountryNew Zealand
LineOtago Central Railway
OperatorNew Zealand Railways Department
Incident typeDerailment
CauseExcessive speed;
Driver intoxicated
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers113
Deaths21

The Hyde railway disaster occurred on 4 June 1943 near the small settlement of Hyde, Otago, New Zealand, on a bend of the Otago Central Railway. At the time, it was New Zealand's worst railway accident; of the 113 passengers on board, 21 were killed and a further 47 were injured. However, just over 10 years later, the Tangiwai disaster took 151 lives on 24 December 1953. The Hyde disaster remains as the second-worst railway accident in New Zealand's history.