Sa Pereira rail disaster

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Sa Pereira rail disaster
Sa pereira tren volcado.jpg
The train after the impact
Details
Date25 February 1978 (1978-02-25)
7:22 am
LocationRN 19 level crossing, Sa Pereira
Santa Fe
CountryArgentina
LineFC Mitre
OperatorFerrocarriles Argentinos
ServiceTucumán–Retiro
Incident typePassenger
CauseTrespassing
Statistics
Trains1
Vehicles1
Passengers2,130
Deaths55

The Sa Pereira accident was a train wreck in the city of Sa Pereira in Santa Fe Province, occurred in February 1978. It occurred when a long-distance passenger train operated by Ferrocarriles Argentinos crashed a truck in the level crossing on General Mitre Railway tracks and RN 19 in Sa Pereira.

With 55 people dead, it was the worst rail tragedy in the province of Santa Fe,[1] and the second biggest accident in the history of rail transport in Argentina, after the Benavídez rail disaster of 1970 which left 236 dead.[2]

Overview[]

Flaghlights and bell were ignored by the truck driver, causing the accident

The incident happened at 7:22 am on Saturday February 25, 1978, when in the middle of the sound of the siren announcing the arrival of a formation, a long-distance bus and a Ford F-600 truck carrying a load of 25,000 kg of edible fat and cans, ran through the level crossing despite the red flashing lights and the sound of the bell announcing the proximity of the train.

The truck, property of meat packing industry "Santa Elena"[1] and driven by Arnaldo Ruben Bianchini of 35 years old, was hit by the Estrella del Norte ("Northern Star", as the passenger service was called) that had departed from San Miguel de Tucumán running towards Retiro Station (terminus of the line). At the moment of the impact, the train carried 2,130 passengers.

People helping with the rescue of victims

The train, driven by Antonio Gore, could not avoid the crash: the locomotive "jumped" from the tracks and collapsed parallel to them, following its route for hundreds of meters until two wagons in the center of the train embedded themselves. As a result, many passengers were struck into the wagons. Those ones which suffered minor injuries could escape from the coaches jumping from the windows, but many others could not be rescued until special machines and tools to cut the wagons arrived from nearby cities of the region.[1]

Immediately, the inhabitants of the place and several of the passengers of the train collaborated in the tasks of aid. In the rescue tasks there were police and firefighters arriving from neighbouring towns San Jerónimo, Esperanza, [San Francisco, Córdoba|San Francisco]], Rafaela, Gálvez, Rosario, Santa Fe, Paraná, among others.[3]

Many bodies could not be identified and were buried in a common grave.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d La historia de la peor tragedia ferroviaria de la provincia by José Zenclussen on El Litoral
  2. ^ El tercer accidente ferroviario más grave en la historia del país, La Nación, Feb 2012
  3. ^ La tragedia de Sa Pereira todavía cruje en la memoria on Todo Tren (archive, 15 Mar 2008)
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