Death toll rises to 11 after train-bus accident in Argentina

[News_Editor]

Death toll rises to 11 after train-bus accident in Argentina

2011-09-14 09:43:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll has risen to at least 11 after two passenger trains and a bus collided early Tuesday morning, officials said. Over 200 people were also injured.

The incident occurred at around 6:30 a.m. local time in Las Flores, located within Argentina's Buenos Aires Province, on Artigas street, when a passenger bus was hit by a Sarmiento train. The impact caused the passenger train to derail and hit another train in the town's Porteño neighborhood.

Argentina's Transport Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi confirmed the new death toll of eleven people, adding that among the fatal victims is the bus driver and a child, although his or her age was not immediately disclosed. In addition, over 200 people have been confirmed injured, 20 of them reportedly in critical condition.

As investigations continue, Buenos Aires' Trains Institutional Manager and External Communications Manager Gustavo Gago said the driver of the passenger bus tried to cross the tracks while the protective beams were signaling no crossing. A malfunction was speculated in the protective beams, but Gago confirmed that the signaling was working properly.

Nonetheless, a police surveillance video shows that a few hours prior to the accident, another bus broke off a part of the protective beam. In addition, despite Gago explaining that the mechanism functioned automatically, he also admitted that the morning shift employee working at the crossing did not show up on time.

Local authorities have also reviewed the driver's record and, according to Schiavi, all of his paperwork was in order.

Following the accident, vehicles and personnel from Argentina's Medical Attention Emergency System (SAME) arrived at the scene and shifted the injured to medical centers, as emergency teams worked to free several people who remained trapped. Among those already rescued was the train's conductor.

Federal Police spokesman Fernando Sostre said that over 50 ambulances and 10 firefighting teams had been attending to victims at the scene. The injured were transported to Alvarez, Piñero, Santojanni and Durán hospitals, but their capacity has reached their limits and were having difficulties attending all of the injured.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-14