Lorqui rail incident

The  was a rail at the Lorqui viaduct in Ventora on September 13, 1961. There were 29 fatalities, including the entire royal family, and 19 people were injured.

Accident
The royal family routinely traveled between the in Plenas to the Summer Palace near Terelle in the duchy of Sabaray by train on the Plenas-Vedra line. The summer season having ended, the entire royal family was aboard the royal train, symboled as the Royal Extra, on September 13, 1961. Although it was not common for the entire family to travel all at once, it was not unheard of.

A particularly hot summer in 1961 had resulted in numerous instances of heat stress to the railways. The Plenas-Vedra line was no exception and a railway gang had made repairs to rails approaching the Lorqui viaduct on September 9th. The work had been rushed, however, and the west rail was not properly secured to the sleepers. Gauge widening occurred due to the west rail being further dislocated by each passing train. This allowed the wheels on the Royal Extra to leave the tracks after which six carriages fell into the ravine below the viaduct.

All 21 members of the royal family who were aboard were killed, as were 8 crew and staff. Nineteen crew and staff were also injured. The remoteness of the accident location hampered rescue efforts and contributed to the number of deaths.

Aftermath
The fatalities included King Florián III and the other members of the royal family. This resulted in a succession crisis that led to the War of the Three Capitals. The outcome of the war was the development of the commonwealth system of governance for Ventora. Consequently, the is the most significant transport accident in Ventoran history.

An investigation into the circumstances that led to the derailment was begun within days of the accident. It was hampered by jurisdictional disputes between the national government, the Ceiba Baja ducal government, the Army's Royal Transport Corps, and the rail line owner, Ferrocarril Central Norte (FCN). The investigation was further delayed when the War of the Three Capitals broke out. A report was finally released in 1965 placing responsibility on FCN for improper track maintenance. Although no criminal charges were laid, Juan Echevarría Toledano, who had certified the track repairs before the accident, took his life by stepping in front of a locomotive in the coach yards at the Guacalito station. Police found a note in his apartment expressing "deep sorrow and regret for causing a national calamity."

Consipiracy theories
Delays in the initial official investigation, coupled with the jurisdictional disputes of the parties involved, gave rise to a number of. Chief among them are those claiming the derailment was deliberately caused by one or more dukes intending to ascend to the throne. Several books have been written championing such claims, holding either monarchist dukes wanted Florián replaced as king or, alternatively, some dukes sought an end to the monarchy. Federico Arenas Antúnez, Duke of Arava and a prominent monarchist, sued Manilo Toribio Calisto, author of By Any Means Necessary, for defamation of character and deliberate falsehoods in claiming Arenas funded efforts to remove Florián from the throne. Toribio was compelled to pay damages and forfeit proceeds from the book sales to Arenas; the courts also banned By Any Means Necessary, finding it espoused historical falsehoods.

In 1969, the People's Emancipation Union (UEP) claimed responsibility for the royal train's derailment, stating track inspector Juan Echevarría was a member of a Noyonist group that was absorbed by the UEP. Echevarría's family denied the implication and denounced the UEP, stating the only difference between it and the nobility is nobles inherit their positions of power. Venceslás Ermeraes Amaraveira, an investigative journalist with Los Tiempos (The Times) in Plenas, found the UEP claim to be ludicrous since the derailment happened almost seven years before the UEP's formation. He substantiated the family's position that Echevarría did not attempt to cause the derailment, stating he had simply overlooked the shoddiness of the track repairs.