BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhuanet)-- A Turkish express train heading to Ankara from Istanbul derailed Thursday, killing at least 36 peopleand wounding 43 others.

    The following are the major rail accidents in the past 20 years.     

    June 6, 1981 -- Some 800 people are killed and more than 100 injured in the world's worst rail accident when a cyclone blows an overcrowded train off its tracks into the River Kosi in India's eastern state of Bihar.

    Jan. 13, 1985 -- Several coaches plunge into a ravine after leaving the rails at a crossing in Ethiopia, killing 392.

    June 4, 1989 -- Leaking gas causes a huge explosion in a crowded rail station in Ural mountains in the former Soviet Union,engulfing two passenger trains and killing about 600 people.

    Jan. 3, 1990 -- More than 300 people are killed and 700 others injured when a passenger train crashes into a cargo train in southern Pakistan.

    Jan. 30, 1993 -- A train plunges into a river as the bridge collapses in Kenya, claiming more than 140 lives.

    Sept. 6, 1994 -- Two trains collide in the Republic of Congo, killing more than 100 people.

    Sept. 22, 1994 -- A derailing train kills about 300 people and injures nearly 150 in Angola.

    Aug. 20, 1995 -- Some 300 people are killed and 344 others injured when two trains collide in India.

    Oct. 28, 1995 -- At least 300 people are killed when an underground railway train catches fire in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.

    Feb. 14, 1998 -- The derailment of a cargo train causes the explosions of two wagons with fuel onboard in Cameroon, leaving 220 people dead.

    June 3, 1998 -- A high-speed express train derails and crashes into a motorway pillar near the town of Eschede in Germany, killing 101 and injuring 200.

    Nov. 26, 1998 -- More than 200 people are killed in the collision of two trains in India.

    Aug. 2, 1999 -- Two trains collide head-on in India, killing 285 people.

    Oct. 5, 1999 -- Two high-speed trains collide into each other near Paddington, west London, claiming 31 lives and injuring 245.

    Feb. 20, 2002 -- Some 361 people are killed and 450 injured in the fire on a crowded passenger train in Egypt.

    May 25, 2002 -- As many as 192 people are killed and 169 injured in the derailment of a train in Mozambique.

    June 24, 2002 -- A derailing passenger train crashes into a cargo train in Tanzania, killing 288.

    Feb. 18, 2004 -- Nearly 300 people are killed and 450 others injured in the explosions caused by the derailment of a fuel-laden train in Iran.

    April 22, 2004 -- A fuel-laden train blows up at a station in the Democratic Republic of Korea near the center of Ryongchon, killing about 54 people and injuring hundreds.

    July 22, 2004 -- A total of 36 people were killed and 43 others wounded when a high-speed train en route from Istanbul to Ankara derailed Thursday. Enditem