A British Railways Mark 1 sleeping car, similar to the one involved in the accident
Details
Date
6 July 1978 02:40
Location
Taunton, Somerset
Country
England
Line
Great Western Main Line
Cause
Obstructed electric heater
Statistics
Trains
1
Passengers
~8 coaches
Deaths
12
Injured
15
List of UK rail accidents by year
In the early hours of 6 July 1978, a fire broke out in a sleeping car train near Taunton, Somerset, England. 12 people were killed and 15 were injured. The fire was caused by an electric heater that had been obstructed by sacks of dirty bed linen, causing it to overheat. Most deaths were due to smoke inhalation.
In response to the incident, British Rail adopted various fire safety measures on the newly introduced Mark 3 passenger carriages.
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