Argentina bus, trains crash at crossing

At least seven people are dead and more than 160 others injured after a crash involving a bus and two passenger trains at a railway crossing in a suburb of Argentine capital.

The bus driver was among those killed as one train rammed the vehicle into a platform and then struck another locomotive head-on in the morning rush-hour accident Tuesday, Argentine Transportation Secretary J.P. Schiavi said.

There are conflicting reports of what happened. One media report says the bus driver was trying to beat one of the trains when it was struck. But CBC's Johnny Keogh reported from Argentina that the bus driver waited for a train to pass, then started over the tracks and was hit by a train coming from the opposite direction.

The force of the first collision reduced the bus to a fraction of its width as it became wedged against the station platform. The front of the train then slammed into another train that was preparing to leave the Flores station in the opposite direction on the Sarmiento line, which connects the Buenos Aires suburb of Moreno to the Once station downtown.

Schiavi said children were among those injured in the accident, which happened at 6:15 a.m. local time, just when many parents use public transportation to take their children to school.

Some witnesses say barriers were only part-way down

Schiavi said the barriers appeared to be functioning normally, but reporters at the scene challenged that, saying some witnesses had reported that one of the barriers had descended only part-way down, leaving room for the bus to try to drive across the tracks despite the warning bells.

Schiavi said investigators were studying videotape of the accident to determine exactly what happened.

Helicopters helped carry the injured to at least seven hospitals around the Argentine capital.

Buenos Aires' passenger rail system moves at street level through most neighbourhoods of the capital and surrounding provinces, trying the patience of drivers who often can be seen ignoring the lights, bells and barriers that signal an approaching train. The potential for collisions increases at rush-hour, particularly next to stations, with trains passing and barriers dropping every few minutes.

Helicopters helped carry the injured to at least seven hospitals around the Argentine capital.