[NYTr] Cuba: Train-Bus Collisiion Kills at 29, Hurts 75; Worst Accident in Years Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:52:17 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [A highly unusual incident in Cuba; it's not totally clear, but it seems by "passenger truck" the report means a bus. In the cities, during the Special Period, there were large flat-bed trucks turned into buses (they were known as "camels,") which served somewhat to ease a critical transport and fuel shortage. However, the "camels" are finally being phased out as new buses from various countries have been ordered and begun to arrive. The "camels" weren't used on long inter-city routes, either. But it sounds as though there were only 2 vehicles: the bus, sitting on the train tracks, and the train. The buses can be very crowded in Cuba. If it broke down, you'd think the passengers would have been evacuated. There are, of course, not many radios, and even in the US, buses and trains don't share radio frequencies. It seems the bus driver is being held responsible for the crash. They do like their ron in Santiago. -NY Transfer] Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Passenger Truck Caused Train-Bus Crash, Say Experts Havana, Oct 14 (Prensa Latina) The accident involving a passenger truck and a train that occurred on October 6 in the eastern province of Granma, was investigated by an expert commission that blamed the truck for standing on a railroad crossing between the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Manzanillo. The commission of the Ministry of Transport ruled that the bus-truck was responsible for the major traffic accident that caused the death of 29 persons and wounds to another 75. The results of the investigation were made public Saturday in Granma capital, Bayamo, with the attendance of Minister of Transport Jorge Luis Sierra, reported the Agencia de Informacion Nacional (AIN), who announced that all railroad crossings without barriers in the country would be supplied with the necessary security equipment to prevent future accidents. The causes why the bus was standing in the railroad crossing are still not known, but the driver Manuel Taurino Chavez Pena remains in detention by the authorities awaiting the trial. According to the investigators, the train 664 was traveling in its usual schedule on the route from Santiago to Manzanillo and the crew blew the warning whistles as required when approaching the crossing. Authorities informed that among the wounded persons, 27 are still hospitalized, two of them in a critical condition, four very seriously wounded and another with serious wounds. ef PL-2 *** Caribbean Broadcasting - Oct 15, 2007 http://www.cbc.bb/content/view/12845/45/ Twenty-eight killed in Cuba crash At least 28 people have been killed and more than 70 injured in Cuba after a train collided with a bus at a level crossing, official media say. The accident - which is the worst in Cuba for years - happened in Granma province in the east of the island. Fifteen people are reported to be critically injured, and local people have been helping treat them. Buses and trains are almost always overcrowded in Cuba, where much of the infrastructure is run down. The accident happened when a train travelling from Santiago to Manzanillo slammed into a bus at a crossing in Yara, about 800km (500 miles) south-east of Havana. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the crash. Few other details were made available in state media, which often shy away from covering such accidents. Last June 11 people were killed and 50 injured when a crowded truck flipped over in the Santiago area. * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================