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2008 February Slush
(?)Seatbelt subterfuge kills driver
(?)Mamba kills Man
(DA)Chalk one up for the dog.
Fatal Ski Slope Prank
(DA)A Breathtaking View
(HM)Mexican Divorce
DA:Dynamite Defroster
(Hmmm)Surfing the wrong wave
(?)Die Hard
(DA)Chemistry Went Over Her Head
(>)Living the High Life (On a Budget)
(DA)On the Piste
(?)Darwin in heavy traffic
(DA)Stabbing suspect dies in car crash
Man died after driving down boat ra
(?)Winched up
(DA)Slip Sliding Away
(No)Swimming with the fish (bits)
Top of the train
Up, Up, and Away!
(DA)Hare today, gone tomorrow
Brain Evacuation
Killer locomotive
A good thought gone bad
Bridges are lower than they appear
Monk killed by own runaway lawnmowe
(HM)Shock Horror
Inspiration + Youth + Explosives =
Manhole kills man, Dove in for Cana
no diving please
Roping a Bobcat
Mattress Race
Just Say No
Man has friend shoot him to get off
Wash those genes away
BASE jumper succumbs to stupidity
Old shells never die
A Mattress of Life and Death....
(DA)4 Die In Dirtbike Collision
boat welding
Trail Blazing Gaffe
It only works in the movies
feeling tyred - near miss
Tram drags man with him
Trailer burns when woman uses gas t
Tree felling made easy
Community service for teen who burn
If at first you don't succeed
Man dies trying to beat train in Sa
The $500 Bullet
Please Take This Outside
Death by iPod?
BBQ Whippits
Sledding Accident
Two men burned in backyard blast
Redneck Bee Exterminator
The Widow Maker
Miner nearly crushes himself
Too Close For Comfort
Drain Surfing
A fool and his bike
arrange your own hit
A tough act to swallow for student
Grocery Bang!
Drove 2.5 miles on the wrong way
Departing parted
I'm dying for a drink
2 teens hurt by explosion while dri
Smoking related near miss
Smoky bar triggered fatal asthma at
Man's death linked to cotton swab u
putting your foot in it
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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Top of the train

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Two young men, aged 20 and 19, decided to climb on top of a regional train's locomotive, which was standing ready to depart in Fulda Station, Germany, after the two had visited a carneval event, late on February 5, 2008.

Probably drunk, they must have missed the important part - this was no diesel powered locomotive, but one using electricity, fed to the train by overhead wires (something you cannot possibly miss, these arrays are quite huge...), more specifically about 15.000 volts and up to 1400 ampere.

Whatever they did up there resulted in a lightning arc, hurling both of them bodily onto the tracks. The 20 year old died on site, his companion survived with severe injuries.

Submitted on 02/05/2008

Submitted by: Luis Cypher
Reference: http://www.zeit.de/news/artikel/2008/02/05/2470376.xml

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

Awful? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Great?
Hate it! Love it!
>> Moderator Scores <<

Chip said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Luis, "train surfing" is much too common these days but I don't think we have seen a double here before. A shocking turn of events, I must say! Thanks for the story.


Bruce said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
As Chip indicated, these sorts of stories are very common, but I'll also give it a nod since it involved two people. It does appear to be deserving of a full DA since one of the two died.


James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
A "too common" event is only too common if nobody ups the ante. Needless to say, these two clowns did, and one of theme struck himself right out of the gene pool. I'll go full DA, it must have been a spectacular ker-ZZZZZZAAAAAAPPPP!


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