Argentina Train Crash In Buenos Aires 'Kills At Least 49', Leaves Hundreds Injured

Argentina Train Accident

First Posted: 22/02/2012 17:06 Updated: 22/02/2012 20:26

A train crash in Argentina has killed at least 49 people and left hundreds injured, according to officials.

A train collided into the end of the line at a station in the capital Buenos Aires, as hundreds of commuters attempted to go to work.

Transportation secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi said the train hit a barrier travelling around 12 miles an hour, with one carriage driven into the next. According to CNN said there could have been problems with the train's brakes.

One shaken passenger told journalists that the impact was "tremendous".

According to Alberto Crescenti, the city's emergency medical director, up to 550 people were injured.

It could be the highest death toll from a train crash in the country since 1970, when 200 people died.

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07:03 AM on 02/23/2012
falkland islands :)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mfa11e
Tell the truth ,regardless
11:47 PM on 02/22/2012
Here in the UK at a terminus the buffers are set back from the end of the track,they are designed to 1) If the train is travelling too fast and hits them they move onto a sanded area thus absorbing energy,2) they have "springs" so more energy is absorbed .Crush injuries are the most likely cause
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mfa11e
Tell the truth ,regardless
11:03 PM on 02/22/2012
Often people stand up and queue near the doors when the train arrives at the terminus.It could be crush injuries or luggage hitting people .Maybe their trains are like our old ones and its possible to open the doors .Awful accident.
09:56 PM on 02/22/2012
It would be easy to make an anti-argie comment here with the Falklands issue... but I'd like to think that is what seperates us from them. We're better than that. RIP to the people who died.
10:06 PM on 02/22/2012
Well done mwatts, far more impressive than the comment made by ianok below.
This comment has been removed.
08:26 PM on 02/22/2012
What would happen if their train speed is 100mph because it is normal even for third world country? 12mph and this many dead? 550 injured shocking. They must improve their train.
08:16 PM on 02/22/2012
12 miles an hour? Im baffled as to the number of deaths and injuries.
08:02 PM on 02/22/2012
I'm really confused here. How can a train travelling at 12 MPH cause so many deaths and injuries???
08:24 PM on 02/22/2012
I am confused as well: Injuries, yes. Deaths on that scale, I don't understand. (26 years in UK rail industry).
09:35 PM on 02/22/2012
Well gordunder when your confused I suppose you could say an expert, then what chance would I have, someone who could count on one hand the number of times I travelled on a train. Nevertheless thank you for your comment gordunder.
O perhaps you would understand FanaticRealist below's comment.
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FanaticRealist
Romney's Dog: 21st Century Schrodinger's Cat
08:45 PM on 02/22/2012
Rush hour train travelling at 12 miles an hour stops travelling abruptly.

The following cars weigh maybe 40 tonnes, but a huge amount of that is in the chassis and the passengers whilst the skin of the carriage tends to be relatively flimsy.

If I recall my physics, the accident is effectively an inelastic collision so the last (back carriage) contributes its momentum to the penultimate carriage which then loses a small amount of momentum before imparting the remainder to the next carriage: by the time, you get to the front two carriages (and potentially the power car), that's a heck of a lot of energy which isn't going anywhere.

The effect now is that the carriages can't go forward, but must – thanks to Sir Isaac – maintain any stored energy so they start climbing over each other and the second carriage from the front will often land up pointing into the sky at the front and being crushed from the back.

Basically, there's a lot of kinetic energy and it has to go somewhere which is why these things always look like a giant has been trying to play an accordion.

If you or I fall into a floor at 12 mph (roughly equivalent to falling 24 foot), you'll probably break your ankles if you land on your feet. If you drop a blue whale 7.35 metres onto a hard surface, it'll probably die.

At least, that's vaguely what I remember.
09:33 PM on 02/22/2012
Well that's sorta wraps it up then F.R. Thank you.
10:51 PM on 02/22/2012
F R. Your Understanding of transfered energy is faultless, but at 12 MPH I find the destruction of what may not be the most modern energy absorbing carriage chassis/bodies and their passengers somewhat alarming. I believe impact speed must have been higher (20mph or so). Lets not forget, the fuller a carriage is with passengers the lower the injuries tend to be as there is less scope for accelerated movement into hard objects. Obviously the reverse applies in total crush situations.
Cheers.
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Fozwords
Abandon hope when you post on here
07:37 PM on 02/22/2012
Oh dear.
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Fitzy1
I'm right, you're wrong
09:34 PM on 02/22/2012
A great shame…...