BUENOS AIRES – At least 90 people were injured on Friday when a moving passenger train crashed into another empty formation in Buenos Aires, 30 of whom were admitted to hospitals with various injuries.
The collision occurred on a bridge in the capital’s Palermo neighborhood, causing the derailment of the San Martín Line unit that was transporting passengers.
The company Trains Argentinos reported in its
Alberto Crescenti, director of the Emergency Medical Care System (SAME), assured that there are no fatalities or people trapped in the carriages. He noted that a total of 90 people were assisted, 60 of them at the scene, and that of the 30 injured people taken to hospitals — considered “code red” — two suffered head injuries.
The SAME deployed a large operation in the area, as seen in images broadcast by television channels, after which it reported that it began to transfer dozens of injured people to hospitals.
The Argentine Secretary of Transportation, Franco Mogetta, regretted the crash and indicated that several hypotheses about its causes are being considered. He indicated that one is the theft of copper cables on the tracks, which would have caused signaling problems. “We are investigating this situation but we want to be very cautious and also put at the disposal of justice all the investigation work that the Trenes Argentinos company is doing,” the official told reporters.
Omar Maturano, leader of the La Fraternidad union—which brings together train drivers—said in this regard that for 10 days there has been a lack of adequate signaling systems, such as those that activate traffic lights, due to wiring theft.
“We have been demanding 10 days (from Trenes Argentinos) to repair them, but there are no spare parts. Not only are the spare parts for the signaling missing, but also for the trains and cars,” said Maturano. He added that because of these failures “the free way is managed with papers or a green flag that indicates the way.”
ARGENTINA ACCIDENT
AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
According to what passengers who left the accident formation by their own means told the media, the latter stopped for a few minutes and, after starting off, ended up hitting the other one that was ahead on the same road. The total number of travelers is unknown.
The formation with passengers moved from Buenos Aires to suburbs north of the capital.
The SAME doctors treated different people who remained lying on the ground and the railway tracks, while the firefighters worked to remove the injured who were trapped in the cars.
In Argentina Various railway accidents have occurred. One of the most serious took place on February 22, 2012, when a train full of passengers coming from the suburbs of Buenos Aires entered the capital’s Once station and collided with the bumper of the platform, causing 51 deaths.
Source: AP
