Villa Soldati level crossing tragedy
Encyclopedia
The Villa Soldati level crossing disaster occurred on the morning of June 11, 1962 in Villa Soldati
in south west Buenos Aires
when in dense fog a train struck a municipal bus carrying schoolchildren to kindergarten.
The accident happened near President Illia station where what is now the Line Belgrano Southern
crosses Lacarra Street at its junction with Veracruz. The crossing attendant believing the crossing to be clear, opened the barriers to allow a truck through which was followed by a bus; he did not hear the warning bell until too late. The impact of the train virtually destroyed the bus, and pushed part of it 150 yards down the track. Dozens of ambulances and a hundred doctors arrived at the scene, the injured being taken to four different hospitals where a shortage of blood and plasma resulted in an appeal for blood donors to which 1500 people responded.
As a result 42 people were killed and 83 injured; apart from the bus driver and a woman teacher, the rest of the dead were children less than 13 years old. There were no casualties on the train.
A monument now marks the scene of the tragedy
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Villa Soldati
Villa Soldati is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the South-West of the city. It has a population of approximately 41,000 people, 40 % of which live in Barrio Soldati, a public housing development built between 1973 and 1979....
in south west Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
when in dense fog a train struck a municipal bus carrying schoolchildren to kindergarten.
The accident happened near President Illia station where what is now the Line Belgrano Southern
Línea Belgrano Sur (Buenos Aires)
The Belgrano Sur line is a commuter rail service in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina run by the private company Transportes Metropolitanos Belgrano Sur S.A. , a subsidiary of Metropolitano, between 1 May 1994 and 22 May 2007...
crosses Lacarra Street at its junction with Veracruz. The crossing attendant believing the crossing to be clear, opened the barriers to allow a truck through which was followed by a bus; he did not hear the warning bell until too late. The impact of the train virtually destroyed the bus, and pushed part of it 150 yards down the track. Dozens of ambulances and a hundred doctors arrived at the scene, the injured being taken to four different hospitals where a shortage of blood and plasma resulted in an appeal for blood donors to which 1500 people responded.
As a result 42 people were killed and 83 injured; apart from the bus driver and a woman teacher, the rest of the dead were children less than 13 years old. There were no casualties on the train.
A monument now marks the scene of the tragedy
Tragedy (event)
A tragedy is an event in which one or more losses, usually of human life, occurs that is viewed as mournful. Such an event is said to be tragic....
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