At least 79 people were hurt, some seriously, in a train crash at a Buenos Aires railway station, after the train failed to stop at the end of the line.
Railway officials said Saturday's accident, which occured at 7:25 am local time, came without any earlier reports of problems during the train's ride though passengers had complained about breaking issues for two stations.
Officials said they could not immediately determine the cause of the accident and that the injured were rushed to about a dozen nearby hospitals.
Argentina's security chief Sergio Berni told local television that "there are no fatalities for now" at the Once train station.
Buenos Aires has been plagued by rail accidents in recent years.
Argentina has tried to ramp up oversight of its problem-plagued train system since last year's deadly train collision which killed 51 and injured more than 700.
As a remedy the Argentine officials have put surveillance cameras into conductors' cabs.
The increased surveillance has already revealed some acts of negligence by railway personnel, officials said in July.
Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo said video images taken from the surveillance cameras showed drivers nodding off, on the phone or reading, sometimes with their hands off the controls altogether.
A driver seen struggling to keep his eyes open "has already been relieved of his duties," Randazzo said. "He was driving a train with a thousand passengers," the transport minister said.
Comments
Post a Comment