“Trenes Argentinos communicates that a formation of the San Martín line collided with a locomotive and an empty van car, at 10:31, at kilometer 4,900 on the Palermo viaduct at Alcorta Avenue.” This is what the government’s brief message says, adding that emergency personnel work.
The images that began to circulate are shocking. Passenger cars heavily damaged, rescue personnel and SAME working at the scene.
A red alert was issued in the Buenos Aires hospital system to receive the injured.
The report from the scene assures that “City Firefighters moved this morning to Figueroa Alcorta and Dorrego avenues due to a collision between two formations of the San Martín railway, one with passengers and the other with track work material. A total of 16 People with some type of injury were transferred by SAME ambulances to the Rivadavia, Pirovano and Fernández hospitals, while the air SAME was also dispatched.”
The accident occurs in the context of a strong debate over the railway system. Since he took office, Milei’s government has promoted the scrapping and emptying of many areas of Trenes Argentinos, affecting works and maintenance tasks. It also threatens thousands of layoffs.
Railway workers aware of the accident assured that the signals had not been working in San Martín for more than a month since the cables were stolen. The company never replaced them due to the adjustment. The confirmation came minutes ago from the General Secretary of the La Fraternidad union, Omar Maturano. He assured in a radio interview that “we have been working for 10 days without signs, due to the degradation of the railway and lack of security.” He said that “the signaling cables” are stolen and “the workers of the San Martín line are solving their tasks by signaling with a green flag or with a piece of paper.”
What Maturano did not explain is why the leadership of the union allowed work to be carried out under those conditions. The scandalous complaint explains what the causes are and who is responsible for the incident: the Trenes Argentinos authorities and the government.
It is clear that the privatization policy is a threat not only to assets and jobs, but also to the lives of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
News in development.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
