On June 4, 1988, a powerful explosion occurred at a railroad crossing in Arzamas. Such a huge mushroom of fire rose into the sky that those who saw it decided that a nuclear war had begun. Three train cars with 120 tons of TNT, ammonal, and hexogen detonated — the explosives were being transported for mining operations from Dzerzhinsk to Kazakhstan. The blast wave turned houses into ruins within a radius of several kilometers. Windows fell out all over the city.
According to official data, 91 people died and 744 were injured. However, residents of Arzamas still do not believe this figure – they are convinced that there were significantly more victims. At the site of the explosion, a crater was formed 26 meters deep (which is comparable to a nine-story building) and half a football field in diameter. The diesel locomotive, broken into several pieces, lay with its wheels up.
At first, no one understood what had happened. Rumors began to spread around the city. Some said there had been a gas explosion, others – a terrorist attack.
The memory of the Chernobyl tragedy was fresh. People were afraid of the beginning of a global catastrophe, since Arzamas-16 (now Sarov) was located nearby – a secret city where nuclear weapons were developed. The police, military and doctors urgently tried to get people out from under the rubble. The rubble of destroyed houses and structures was cleared away all night. And already in the morning of the next day, the first train passed on new rails and a filled-in hole.
Then a new microdistrict was built in the city, where those who lost their homes were given apartments.