Argentine train slams into station, killing 49

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i6Vyp85L2HN5M4qp9R2lxJziBdOg?docId=d1ebf97815e54b689ae1b0bdec18fcb6

Source: Associated Press

Argentine train slams into station, killing 49
By MICHAEL WARREN, Associated Press – 18 minutes ago

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds of morning commuters in Argentina's worst train accident in decades.
....

That makes it Argentina's worst train accident since Feb. 1, 1970, when 200 a train smashed into another at full speed in suburban Buenos Aires, killing 200 people.

At least 550 people were injured, and emergency workers were slowly extracting dozens of people who were trapped inside the first car, said Alberto Crescenti, the city's emergency medical director. Rescuers carved open the roof and set up a pulley system to ease them out one by one.
....

The commuter train came in too fast and hit the barrier at the end of the platform at about 16 mph (26 kph), smashing the front of the engine and crunching the leading cars behind it; one car penetrated nearly 20 feet (six meters) into the next, Argentina's transportation secretary, J.P. Schiavi told reporters at the station.

Telescoping cars.... That's a rare occurrence for intercity passenger service in this country. If I am not mistaken, the US Federal Railroad Administration has been criticized for its insistence on maintaining standards requiring high buffer strength on passenger equipment. Their policy effectively eliminates some foreign-designed equipment from operating in the United States. Am I wrong on this? I hope someone knowledgeable pipes up. Also, the coupler design on passenger equipment in this country keeps the cars all in a line in a wreck.

In pictures: Argentina train crash

[Marrah_G]

1. What a horrible accident

My heart goes out to Argentina

[Broderick]

2. Thoughts with the people in Buenos Aires and Argentina

Tragedy has stuck.

[Blue_Tires]

3. a horrible tragedy

[Common Sense Party]

4. These Argentine train cars are very old. I rode on the exact same cars 20

years ago when I lived there. I rode in to Estación Once all the time. The trains are old, overcrowded and dangerous. I find this tragedy horrible, but not surprising.

I am listening to a TV stream now from Buenos Aires. The family members are trying to find their wounded or dead loved ones, having to go from hospital to hospital. My heart goes out to my porteño brothers and sisters.

[Festivito]

5. 16 mph / 49 dead. I didn't think it was that poorly built.

I imagine it could have been rush hour. The trains were old when I was there, I don't know if they've upgraded in 30 years.

[Common Sense Party]

7. From what I'm seeing on the stream, thy're the same cars. Very old.

600 injured, spread out in hospitals from Haedo to Moreno.

And yes, it was 8:30 in the morning, full rush hour. The cars are packed at that time.

[Blue_Tires]

9. 600 injured?! How many does the train hold total?

[Common Sense Party]

11. Good question. I don't know, but in the mornings each car is packed.

There are probably 40 people seated per vagon, and another 30-40 standing. Sometimes they're hanging out the doors. I don't know how many vagones (cars) there were in this train.

This is the main way people commute into the city to work.

Edit to add: I'm way off. The Secretary of Transportation is saying each car can carry 250 people. (!)

More people sit in the front cars because they want to get off and be first in line to exit the station.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. Virginia Railway Express

The cars that run on the VRE, which are double-decker, can hold from 123 to 157 passengers. The cars from 1956 originally ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway. VRE trains are 6 or 8 cars long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Railway_Express#Coach_fleet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_%26_Northwestern_Railroad

Edited, because I can't make the links work.

[Blue_Tires]

19. I guess I envisioned something smaller like a subway car

[Common Sense Party]

12. The Secretary of transportation is now saying the train was slowing down, it was going 20 km/hour

when it hit--12.42 mph.

[Common Sense Party]

13. I'm not sure I'm buying it. A passenger is now saying that the train passed by an earlier station

without even slowing down or braking. I think it came into Once fast, no matter what the Secretary is saying.

[Beacool]

6. Wow, that's terrible!!!

I wonder what caused the train's acceleration, if human error or a malfunction. Either way, poor people.

[Common Sense Party]

8. It was going the normal speed for between stations. But it didn't slow down.

A passenger is on now saying she thinks the engineer fell asleep or was dead before the crash. (I'll just add that she doesn't know. She's just speculating.)

[Beacool]

15. Oh, OK.

Thanks for the clarification.

[Common Sense Party]

17. Well, now I'm not so sure.

There's a lot of confusion about this. Some passengers are saying it didn't slow down. Some are saying it started to slow, but was still coming in too fast.

[Common Sense Party]

10. A woman is on TV now, saying her sister was on the train.

She called and left a message right after the crash, but all the sister can hear are screams.

Many of the wounded are not on the lists of the wounded, because they didn't have ID on them, or the ID was in a purse or backpack from which they were separated.

[Common Sense Party]

14. The conductor was young and was tired, according to the Transportation Secretary.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Lotsa tired people today, day after Mardi Gras / Carnivale

I don't know how big a party that is in Argentina, but might have contributed to crew fatigue.

Bad news.

[Common Sense Party]

20. Not as big as in Brazil, that's for sure.

Kids run around throwing water balloons at each other and at random strangers. That's about it.

But the guy could have had a late night, no doubt. If that's the case, it's a shame that all these people had to die.