by Arborwayfan
I checked this out in the Argentine newspaper Clarin (the Bugle).
Pictures here: http://www.clarin.com/ciudades/atrapada ... 84897.html .
An electric multiple unit train on the Ferrocarril General Sarmiento, which runs west from a stub-end terminal in the Once neighborhood of Buenos Aires, crashed into the hydraulic bumpers at at least 20km/hr (16 mph); the RR unions say maybe more. At least 49 people died and 300 or more were injured. The train was overcrowded and the doors were open; the news sites I saw didn't say if they were the side doors or the doors between cars, but employees commented that open doors and overcrowding are dangerous and they've been warning about both for years.
The ends of the first and second cars appear to have buckled a lot; I'd guess from the pictures and descriptions that most of the dead were in or near the front vestibule of the second car and the rear vestibule of the first. The driver's cab was bent in quite a bit and some of the dead may have been up there, too (possibly including the driver, although the paper doesn't say.) Lots of people were trapped for hours and came out through windows because the way to the doors was blocked. There's a good reason you're not allowed to ride in vestibules. There's also apparently a good reason that US laws require such sturdy cars that a lot of European equipment can't be used here without great modification.
Employees also complained about years of low investment and poor maintenance.
Pictures here: http://www.clarin.com/ciudades/atrapada ... 84897.html .
An electric multiple unit train on the Ferrocarril General Sarmiento, which runs west from a stub-end terminal in the Once neighborhood of Buenos Aires, crashed into the hydraulic bumpers at at least 20km/hr (16 mph); the RR unions say maybe more. At least 49 people died and 300 or more were injured. The train was overcrowded and the doors were open; the news sites I saw didn't say if they were the side doors or the doors between cars, but employees commented that open doors and overcrowding are dangerous and they've been warning about both for years.
The ends of the first and second cars appear to have buckled a lot; I'd guess from the pictures and descriptions that most of the dead were in or near the front vestibule of the second car and the rear vestibule of the first. The driver's cab was bent in quite a bit and some of the dead may have been up there, too (possibly including the driver, although the paper doesn't say.) Lots of people were trapped for hours and came out through windows because the way to the doors was blocked. There's a good reason you're not allowed to ride in vestibules. There's also apparently a good reason that US laws require such sturdy cars that a lot of European equipment can't be used here without great modification.
Employees also complained about years of low investment and poor maintenance.
