Argentina train crash death toll estimated at 40
Written by on February 22nd, 2012 in Latest News.
A packed train slams into the end of the line in Buenos Aires’s busy Once station Wednesday, killing an estimated 40 people and injuring hundreds of morning commuters.
“There are fatalities,” said Alberto Crescenti, the city’s emergency medical director. Local media reported that at least 40 people had been killed.
Crescenti said at least 550 people were injured, and said that 30 people remain trapped inside the first car, where rescuers carved open the roof and set up a pulley system to pull them out.
The commuter train came in too quick and hit the barrier at the end of the platform at about 20 kilometres per hour, smashing the front of the engine and crunching the leading cars behind it. One car penetrated nearly six metres into the next, Argentina Transportation Secretary J.P. Schiavi told reporters at the station.
Most hurt was the first car, where passengers make space for bicycles. Survivors told the TeleNoticias channel that many people were injured in a jumble of metal and glass.
Commuters lie on stretchers after being injured when their train crashed into the Once station during rush hour in Buenos Aires Wednesday morning. (Enrique Marcarian/Reuters)
Passengers said windows exploded as the tops of train cars separated from their floors. The trains are usually packed with people standing between the seats, and many were thrown into each other and to the floor by the force of the hard stop.
Many people suffered bruises, and many with lesser injuries were waiting for attention on the Once station’s platforms as helicopters and more than a dozen ambulances took the most seriously injured to nearby hospitals.
“This machine left the shop yesterday and the brakes worked well,” Ruben Sobrero, union chief on the Sarmiento line, told Radio La Red. “From what we know, it braked without problems at previous stations. At this point I don’t want to speculate about the causes.”
The motorman has been sent to hospital, and the union hasn’t been able to speak with him yet, Sobrero added.
