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2013 Buenos Aires train crash

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Coordinates: 34°36′31″S 58°24′31″W / 34.6086°S 58.4085°W / -34.6086; -58.4085
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2013 Buenos Aires train crash
Location of the Once railway station
Map
Details
DateOctober 19, 2013
07:35 local time (10:35 UTC)
LocationOnce railway station, Buenos Aires
CountryArgentina
LineMoreno–Once
OperatorUnidad de Gestión Operativa Mitre Sarmiento
Incident typeCollision with buffer stops
CauseUnder investigation
Statistics
Trains1
Deaths0
Injured105 (at least 5 serious)[1]

The Buenos Aires train crash occurred on October 19, 2013 when a passenger train failed to stop at a terminal station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, injuring 105 people.[1] As of October 2013, the causes of the accident were under investigation.

Antecedents

Main articles: 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster and 2013 Castelar rail accident

The Sarmiento railway line had similar accidents in the previous months.[2] The 2012 rail disaster took place on February 22, 2012, and caused 52 deaths and 700 injured people. The ensuing political scandal led to the demotion of Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi, and a trial for the causes of the accident that is still open.[3]

The line's private operator, TBA, had its concessions to operate the Mitre and Sarmiento lines revoked on May 24, 2012.[4] Both lines were operated by the private consortium UGOMS at the time of the accident.[5]

Accident

At 07:35 local time (10:35 UTC),[6] a passenger train failed to stop at Once Station in Buenos Aires, colliding with the buffer stop.[7] The lead car jumped the retaining wall and landed on the platform.[7] More than 99 people were reported injured,[8] five seriously.[7]

The driver, who was among the injured, was confronted by a number of passengers who yelled "Murderer!, Murderer!" at him. He was rescued by police and taken to hospital.[9] The driver, Julio Benítez, was arrested after he was found with the train event recorder hidden in his backpack; Benítez had attempted to destroy the device.[10] The police recovered the hard drive.[11] He is currently detained at the hospital, under isolation.[12]

A minor riot broke out outside the station, which was quelled by the police.[9] A fleet of 30 ambulances and two helicopters took the injured to around a dozen different hospitals.[8]

Cause

As of October 2013, the cause of the accident had not been determined. Pablo Gunning, spokesman of the Sarmiento Line, said that there were no reported problems in the train, and that it would not be advisable to speculate a reason only a few hours after the accident.[13]

A witness claimed that the train had problems stopping at the two previous stations to Once;[8] another one said a similar thing about the Ciudadela station several miles to the west.[14] Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo reported that the train entered Once Station at a speed of 22 kilometres per hour (14 mph) instead of the regulatory 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph).[11] Randazzo also stated that, according to the GPS, the train stopped at all the stations without problems. He said that the unit had undergone general maintenance on October 15, and that the alcohol test on the motorman had a negative result.[11] He pointed out as well that the motorman had not called to report any problem during the journey.[11]

Several new trains were purchased in China a few months before, but the train that crashed was one of the older ones. At the time of the accident the new trains were only used from Monday to Friday; the accident took place on Saturday.[15]

Political reactions

Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo

Activist Luis D'Elía stated that the accident was the result of a conspiracy to undermine Front for Victory candidates in the mid-term legislative elections scheduled for October 27 (a week after the incident). He accused Congressman Fernando Solanas and the union leader Rubén Sobrero of being involved. D'Elía had said similar things about the Castelar rail accident, which took place in June along the same line.[16] Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo was asked about this, and did not dismiss any potential cause.[17] The Secretary of Public Security, Sergio Berni, made a similar statement, adding that the investigation led by Judge Ariel Lijo will clarify the causes.[18]

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had been operated from a subdural hematoma a few days before. Still in post-operative care, she was not informed of the event.[19]

Fernando Solanas, candidate for Senator, blamed Minister Florencio Randazzo for the accident. He considers him responsible for the poor maintenance of the railways.[20] Congresswoman Margarita Stolbizer asked that Randazzo and Planning Minister Julio de Vido resign.[21] The Mayor of Tigre and candidate for Congress on the opposition Renewal Front ticket, Sergio Massa, preferred to wait for the investigations before making opinions, and criticized the lack of long term policies.[1]

Aftermath

Some of the relatives of the deceased in the 2012 accident repudiated this new incident. They considered that there is no proof of any sabotage, and pointed to the already manifested concerns about the condition of the specific unit that crashed.[22] Gregorio Dalbón, hired to represent a number of the victims in this new incident, asked that the driver, Julio Benítez, be detained by Judge Lijo on the charges of gross negligence, destroying evidence and obstruction of justice.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sergio Massa: "Cuando no hay políticas de carácter permanente, la gente lo paga"". La Nación (in Spanish). October 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Argentine train crashes into Buenos Aires Once station". BBC News Online. October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "El amargo recuerdo de la peor tragedia del Sarmiento en Once". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; October 19, 2013 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Finalmente, el Gobierno le sacó las concesiones del Sarmiento y del Mitre a TBA". Clarín. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "De TBA al Estado, el derrotero de los operadores de la línea Sarmiento". La Nación (in Spanish). October 23, 2013. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Primeras imágenes del accidente del tren Sarmiento" (in Spanish). Info News. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c "Dozens hurt in train crash in Buenos Aires railway terminal". News.com. October 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c Laski, Oscar. "At least 99 hurt in Buenos Aires train accident". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b Pachter, Damian. "Argentine Commuter Train Slams Into Station, Again". The New York Times. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  10. ^ "El motorman se llevó el disco rígido con las imágenes de la cámara de seguridad del tren". Info News. October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ a b c d "Randazzo descartó fallas técnicas y dijo que el tren iba más rápido que el promedio" (in Spanish). Info News. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Acusan al motorman de haber robado el disco rígido de la cámara de seguridad de la cabina antes de ser detenido". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Desde la empresa aseguran que el tren "no reportó fallas"". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Hubo gente que voló por el impacto". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "El tren que se accidentó es "una formación reciclada"". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Luis D´Elía denunció que un "sabotaje electoral" causó el nuevo accidente del Sarmiento". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Florencio Randazzo descartó problemas técnicos y advirtió sobre la velocidad a la que ingresó el tren a Once". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Sergio Berni: "Antes de las elecciones siempre pasan cosas que dejan dudas"". La Nación (in Spanish). October 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Cristina Kirchner "no está informada" del accidente, informó Randazzo". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Pino Solanas: "No pueden reconstruir los ferrocarriles los mismos que los destrozaron"". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "Margarita Stolbizer pide la renuncia de Randazzo y De Vido". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Familiares de la tragedia de Once culpan al Gobierno por el nuevo accidente". La Nación (in Spanish). October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Accidente de Once: víctimas pedirán que el motorman quede preso". Info News. October 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

34°36′31″S 58°24′31″W / 34.6086°S 58.4085°W / -34.6086; -58.4085

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