Railroad crews were doing maintenance work on the Staplehurst Bridge in Kent, England, on June 9, 1865, and had taken up some of the rails. A train wasn’t warned in time to stop, and only partially crossed the rail-less bridge when the middle cars of the train plunged to the river below. Renowned author Charles Dickens was in the third car, which was being pulled downward by the car behind it. However, the coupling snapped and left Dickens’ car hanging precipitously.
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Dickens ran to the fallen cars to help the injured and the dying. The bridge wasn’t high, but the fallen cars were smashed. Ten people died, and more than 40 others were injured. Dickens had come very close to dying himself, and the experience horrified him. He was probably also at least somewhat concerned about the publicity, since he was traveling with his mistress. Dickens hated riding trains for the rest of his life, and he died five years later to the day. Read about the Staplehurst rail crash and what it did to Charles Dickens at Mental Floss.
Source: neatorama