Buttevant Rail Disaster

Buttevant station in County Cork became the site of Ireland's worst rail disaster on 1 August 1980 when a fast express train was diverted into a siding by unauthorised manual points. The wooden carriages behind the locomotive jack-knifed across four rail lines, killing 18 people and injuring more than 70. A nearby doctor reached the wreckage quickly, but the speed and sudden direction change left little time for anyone else to survive the crushing impact.