unsaveSave
expand-left
full screen A passenger train collided with an empty freight car in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. 30 people had to be taken to hospital. Photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP/TT
At least 90 people were injured when a passenger train crashed into an empty freight car and derailed in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. The accident led to more than 30 people being taken to hospital.
The passenger train was heading north when it derailed in the Palermo neighborhood, according to officials.
The railway workers’ union says theft of copper wire used to transmit electricity along the tracks may have contributed to the accident.
Major train accidents have been uncommon in Argentina in recent years, but in 2012–2014 there were a series of accidents in which a total of over 50 people died and hundreds were injured in train traffic.
At the time, outdated infrastructure and human error were singled out as contributing to the railway’s lack of safety, prompting government investment in new safety and braking systems.