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

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


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

$16 Smoking Crater T-Shirt / Black
Heavy 100% cotton, black Hanes Beefy-T with an inadvisable cigarette break on the front... a smoking crater on the back! Click on the image for a full view. Based on true stories. Errata: TNT will not explode in the presence of a lit cigarette. The man was actually sitting on a crate of gelignite.
Buy the Smoking Crater T-Shirt

 

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