SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — At least two people were killed and nine others injured Thursday when a train full of passengers collided head-on with another train on a test run just outside the capital of Chile, where fatal railway crashes remain rare.
Police said they were investigating to determine the cause of the crash, which vaulted the test car fully on top of the freight train, which was also carrying passengers.
Photos and video of the scene showed one carriage jackknifed several meters into the air above a badly mangled cargo train. Two dozen emergency vehicles swarmed the tangle of crushed metal as helicopters buzzed overhead in San Bernardo, a district just south of Santiago, the capital.
The eight-car freight train, which was carrying 1,346 tons of copper, was also packed with people, while the other train had 10 workers on board operating a speed test, the state rail company said.
Security camera footage showed both trains traveling at high speed when they slammed into each other. It wasn’t immediately clear why the test train hadn’t been alerted to the freight train’s approach. Officials indicated that a failure in a signaling device might be responsible.
“We have to identify what the causes are and take the corresponding measures,” Transportation Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz told The Associated Press.
Authorities identified the two people killed as crew members on the freight train. Another nine people were injured, including four Chinese nationals. Medical workers described their condition as serious but not life-threatening.
Heavy rains have thrashed Chile in recent days, causing floods that have submerged hundreds of houses and displaced thousands of people. But the downpour had largely eased in Santiago on Thursday and it didn’t seem to have contributed to the collision
Deadly train collisions have become rare in the South American country, which significantly boosted its safety consciousness after a 2001 crash involving a passenger train and a bus that killed 20 people and injured many more.
Even as the government has invested in improvements, challenges remain, with four train collisions reported in the last two decades that resulted in around three dozen injuries over that time.
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