The 2011 Alawwa rail accident, occurred on the evening of Saturday 17 September 2011, when a passenger train, Sri Lanka Railways S11, drove into an observation car at the back of a stationary Intercity Express train near the Alawwa railway station, approximately 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Colombo. The accident resulted in the death of five people, including a French national, a Thai Buddhist monk and the train driver, with over 30 injured. The Intercity Express had been pushing a Rambukkana-bound train from Colombo, which had stalled near Alawwa. The accident may have been caused by human error, and the S11 train ran into the observation car at the end of the other train.