Argentinan Train Crash Kills Dozens
The accident was the second-worst in the South American nation's history, leaving at least 49 dead and hundreds injured.
| Posted Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, at 3:26 PM ET
Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
An Argentinian railway accident Wednesday killed 49 people and injured at least 600 others.
Bloomberg reports that the commuter train, packed with about 800 passengers, crashed into safety barriers at Buenos Aires' busy Once station. Transport Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi said faulty brakes are probably to blame. The crash is the second-worst in Argentina’s history.
Around 10 million people rely on the Sarmiento line to travel to and from Buenos Aires suburbs. Reuters reports that the government subsidized rail services are often delayed, crowded and poorly maintained. "This is the responsibility of a company that is known for insufficient maintenance and ... improvisation," Edgardo Reinoso, a train workers' trade union representative, told the news agency.
