Argentine train slams into station; 49 die
Firemen rescue wounded passengers from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, injuring over 300 morning commuters, Argentina's transportation secretary said. (AP Photo/Leonardo Zavattaro,Telam)
Firemen rescue wounded passengers from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to police. (AP Photo/Leonardo Zavattaro,Telam)
Paramedics carry away wounded passengers from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, injuring over 300 morning commuters, Argentina's transportation secretary said. (AP Photo/Leonardo Zavattaro,Telam)
A policeman helps carry a wounded passenger from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to police. (AP Photo/Leonardo Zavattaro,Telam)
Injured passengers from a commuter train wait to be carried away after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to police. (AP Photo/Leonardo Zavattaro,Telam)
A wounded passenger waits to be rescued from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to police. (AP Photo/Anibal Greco) NO PUBLICAR EN ARGENTINA
Wounded passengers wait to be carried away from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds of morning commuters as passenger cars crumpled behind the engine. (AP Photo/Anibal Greco) NO PUBLICAR EN ARGENTINA
Paramedics carry away a wounded passenger from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to police. (AP Photo/Anibal Greco) NO PUBLICAR EN ARGENTINA
Injured passengers from a commuter train wait to be carried away after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to police. (AP Photo/Leonardo Zavattaro,Telam)
By MICHAEL WARREN
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A train packed with morning commuters slammed into a downtown station on Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds as passenger cars crumpled and windows exploded around them. It was Argentina’s worst train accident in decades.
The cause wasn’t immediately determined, but many pointed to a deteriorating rail system. Some passengers reported signs the conductor was struggling with the brakes before the crash, saying he kept overshooting platforms and missed one entirely.
The dead include 48 adults and one child — most of whom had crowded into the first two cars to get ahead of the rush-hour crowds on arrival. Some 600 people were injured, including 461 who were hospitalized, Transportation Secretary J.P. Schiavi said.
“It was an accident like those in many other countries,” Schiavi told a news conference, pointing to a newspaper clipping about a fatal crash in Los Angeles. “In recent years, we’ve made huge investments” in the system, he asserted.
As Schiavi spoke Wednesday afternoon, riot police faced off against angry passengers in the closed Once station, where emergency workers spent hours extracting dozens of people trapped inside the first car. Rescuers had to carve open the roof and set up a pulley system to ease them out one by one. Dozens of injured survivors on stretchers were lined up on the station platform.
The 28-year-old conductor, who survived the crash, was apparently well-rested, Schiavi said, having just begun his workday.
“Tiredness, his (young) age, the problems that a conductor might face” are among the factors being investigated, he said. “This young person had just begun his shift moments before the accident.”
The motorman was hospitalized in intensive care and hasn’t given a statement, Schiavi said.
Passengers said the conductor seemed to struggle with the brakes, missing his stopping marks at station after station, though a labor union official said the train appeared to be in good working order.
“This machine left the shop yesterday and the brakes worked well. From what we know, it braked without problems at previous stations. At this point I don’t want to speculate about the causes,” union chief Ruben Sobrero told Radio La Red.
Schiavi said the train was recorded slowing from about 30 miles per hour to 12 miles per hour about 40 yards from the end of the line. “We don’t know what happened in those final 40 meters,” he said.
The train slammed into a shock-absorbing barrier at 8:33 a.m., smashing the front of the engine and crunching the much lighter cars behind it. The second car penetrated nearly 20 feet into the next, Schiavi said.
Most damaged was the first car, where passengers shared space with bicycles. Survivors said many people were injured in a jumble of metal and glass. Security camera images showed windows exploding as the cars crumpled into each other like an accordion.