A car accident near Rakov is a serious and one of the largest road accidents in the history of Belarus . As a result of the fall of the unmanaged passenger bus from the overpass bridge to the railroad tracks, 16 people died on the spot and another died in hospital.
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Chronology of events
On Sunday , August 18, 1991, a tourist group LAZ-699 R returned to Minsk along the Vilnius-Minsk highway from the tourist rally near Rakovoy, Minsk region , with 28 people and a driver. At 4.20 pm local time, upon arrival, the LAZ overpass drove onto the expansion joint of the bridge, after which the bus suddenly became uncontrollable, the wheels turned to the right and the car, breaking through the roof railing, fell onto the railroad tracks, turning over in the air. One of the first residents of the nearby village of Khotezhino arrived at the scene of the incident, they became direct witnesses of the disaster. People rushed around the bus, but could not do anything, the roof racks could not stand the impact and most of the passengers were trapped in the cabin. Several eyewitnesses went to the nearest railway station for help, as well as to prevent a possible train hitting the bus. After that, they tried to turn the bus back onto the wheels with their own help with the help of a rescued truck, but this was not possible. Soon, operational services arrived with truck cranes and began to retrieve people. The process was complicated by the fact that at that time there were no special services and means for rescuing such a large number of victims in an accident.
Causes of a Car
The investigation revealed a technical malfunction of the elements of the tie rod of the bus. A month before the accident, the bus was undergoing maintenance and this control element was subject to disassembly. However, when reassembling the mechanics made negligence. According to the technology, a torque wrench should have been used when mounting the ball stud . The locksmiths tightened it with a conventional key and a pipe used as a lever. In addition, the pin was not installed. As a result, in two weeks of post-repair bus trips, the ball has turned from a round finger into an ellipsoid one. As a result, the nuts of fastening gradually loosened. One of these nuts was found 160 meters from the overpass. All this was modeled on the investigative experiment and even at low speed. The bus driver, a survivor, initially concealed what he knew about the big steering backlash , but admitted it when he presented irrefutable evidence. In addition, it turned out that the fence of the overpass was built without adherence to technology. So the sections of the railing were welded, not bolted, as the rules required.
The memory of the victims
In the 90s, at the expense of relatives, a monument was erected at the crash site of the bus with the names of all 17 victims.