Norway

2000 January 4th. Train Crash, Rena: Head-on collision of two passenger trains on the same track at the Aasta Station in Aamot township, about 100 miles north of Oslo at a speed of 55 mph; it is estimated that one train was carrying 81 passengers and 2 crewmembers, the other 15 passengers and 2 crewmembers; 30 people were injured and taken to various hospitals; 19 persons died.

The diesel locomotives caught fire; smoke and heat conditions were battled for nearly six hours before rescuers could get into the heated wreckage; the section of track where the collision occurred had been due for a safety upgrade with an automatic train stop system;

Temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) slowed down the recovery of bodies, many of them badly burned. They had been taken to the Norwegian capital of Oslo for identification.

2000 April 5th. Train crash, Lillestrom train station: collision of two freight trains, carrying more than 100 tons of propane, at least 2,000 people were evacuated after a fire started, no casualties