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People, animals die in circus train collision

ZLATI MEYER from: freep.com

Twenty-two people, three camels and an elephant were killed when two circus trains collided near Durand on Aug. 7, 1903. A 22 car train collided with a 16-car train, both carrying the Wallace Brothers Circus, as they began their trip along the Grand Trunk Railroad to Lapeer County for the next performance, according to the Durand Union Station Michigan Railroad History Museum.

Initially, 23 people were assumed dead, but rescuers later found a man pinned under the wreckage.Approximately 40 people were injured. Area doctors and local residents raced to help. A hotel was transformed into a hospital.The circus owner estimated $20,000 in losses.

Less than a month earlier, the Wallace Brothers train had crashed, prompting a member of the circus to say, "I'm through with show business. This is the second wreck I have been in with this company, and the next time it will be the undertaker that will get me, not the hospital."