A crane fell yesterday on a construction site in Puerto Madero killing one and injuring two others. The cause of the tragedy remains unclear but there are suspicions that neglected security measures are to blame.

Crane in Puerto Madero (Photo: Courtesy Aureliano Nóbrega on Flickr)

Héctor Ríos, 19, was crushed to death by a jib crane after it collapsed while working on the Lumiere building located at Olga Cossettini 1500. A construction worker told local media that: “at the time of the fall there were about 40 people working, it is a miracle only one person was killed.”

The two injured workers were taken to hospital and are expected to make full recoveries. Sergio Berni, Secretary of Security for Buenos Aires, said that an investigation is taking place and strong winds are thought to be a factor. However, Julián Pérez, who lives next door to the construction site, told Página 12 that “the wind had nothing to do with it, it was human failure, the site is not safe.”

The Construction Workers Union (UOCRA) had objected to the poor security measures on the site three times prior to the accident. UOCRA sent a letter to the Director General of Labour in December 2011 highlighting concerns over safety regulations on the site. Two further letters were sent the following year detailing the lack of protection with regards to deep excavations, doorways, and potential fall hazards.

A similar case occurred in February 2011 when a crane crushed four buildings in Las Cañitas. Luckily there were no victims in that incident. Both Rios’ brother and father were also working with the teenager when he died. The investigation continues.

The front of the train involved in the Once train crash (Photo Beatrice Murch)

The 2^nd Chamber of the Federal Court confirmed the prosecution of two former transport secretaries, Juan Pablo Schiavi and Ricardo Jaime, for their responsibility in the train crash that killed 51 people in February 2012.

The prosecution of the two Cirigliano brothers, businessmen from Cometrans and TBA, the two companies in charge of the rail network, were also confirmed. The court also decided that the two should be arrested and put into preventive custody.

The ruling released by the court stated that the accident could have been avoided and that “the negligence in the operation of the train and its maintenance made it a tragedy of enormous magnitude”.

On 22nd February the Sarmiento Line train failed to brake when entering the Once station while carrying more than 1,200 passengers. It crashed into the platform at the end of the line causing 51 deaths and over 800 injuries.

The three members of the court who signed the ruling, Horacio Rolando Cattani, Martín Irurzun and Eduardo G. Farah, considered that the public servants “had failed to fulfil their duties”. The ruling says that the officials’ monitoring of the train lines was “insufficient”.

The driver of the train, Antonio Córdoba, was also deemed to be responsible by the court, overruling the decision of Judge Claudio Bonadío, and adding him to the list of those prosecuted. In his case the court stated that the driver was going faster than the maximum authorised speed and had turned off security safeguards.

The court also put an embargo and all the property of the suspects being processed “up to the sum of $600m”.

This ruling comes less than 24 hours after President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced on national television that the trains of the Sarmiento and Mitre lines would be entirely replaced in the next 21 months.

Two people were killed and ten injured in a crash that involved taxis, two support vehicles and a group of passengers. The accident took place late on Wednesday in Tacna,  located on kilometre 1,322 of the Panamericana Sur Highway, close to the border with Chile.

Taxi driver Arturo Marquera and his passenger Gómez Vera died instantly, after the car hit the Land Rover of the British team Race2Recovery. Three members of the team, Justin Bischall, John Winskill and Lee Townend, were injured to varying degrees and sent to the hospital in Lima.

As the accident took place, another taxi had to make a sudden maneuver to avoid the collision but ended up turning to the side of the road.  The vehicle that preceeded it struck one of the vehicles of the first accident, injuring seven others, four of whom were sent to the hospital.

Peruvian authorities are currently investigating the details of the accident.

The Race2Recovery team consists of former British and American soldiers who fought in the war in Afghanistan, many of whome are combat amputees.

The Dakar Rally started last Saturday in Peru and will finish in Chile on 20th January. The rally takes place every year in Peru, Argentina and Chile since 2009 and is famous as one of the most challenging routes for its participants.

Four people died and 75 were left injured after a bus and a truck crashed in Jujuy last night. The bus ran into the back of the truck, which was taking football fans to match.

The tragic accident happened last night 30km south of San Salvador de Jujuy, in the north of the country. Close to 100 young fans of the Talleres de Perico football club were travelling on the back of the truck to watch their team play against Altos Hornos Zapla for the Copa Argentina championship in the Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy stadium.

Jorge Zurueta, the prosecutor investigating the accident, stated that the driver of the bus got distracted as he was “sending an SMS”. When he looked up, he realised that “he was too close to the truck and could not avoid the violent collision.” The back of the truck opened upon impact and some of the fans fell on the road and were ran over. Four people aged between 14 and 26 died on the spot, and five remain in critical condition in intensive care.

According to Rolando Ordóñez, an emergency doctor at the Zabala Hospital in the town of Perico, the fact that all the fans were standing up in the back of the truck contributed to the high number of victims.

Upon hearing about the accident, the football game was cancelled. Jujuy governor Eduardo Fellner declared a period of mourning and said “We were hit very hard. This leaves the whole province in mourning.”

Family, friends, and loved ones of the victims of the Once train crash today released black balloons in the station terminal to mark eight months since the accident that killed 51 and injured more than 700 people.

At 8.32am, the exact time of the crash, a siren sounded in the Sarmiento terminal and the group carried out a commemorative service, named the “Heart Memorial”, on platform one in memory of their loved ones.  Speeches from parents of the deceased, celebrated last Friday’s prosecution of former Transport secretaries Ricardo Jaime and Juan Pablo Schiavi while at the same time pressing the need for “further progress”. Luján Rey, mother of Lucas Menghini, said “one door closed on Friday and today another one opens. We expect confirmation of the prosecutions to come from the public prosecutor and the chamber”.

The families also denounced the failure by officials to improve conditions on public transport, saying “it’s embarrassing that eight months after the tragedy, the trains continue to run in such appalling conditions, putting the public permanently at risk”. The government were urged to “think of the people and forget political loyalties and winning votes”.

The driver of the train, Marcos Antonio Córdoba, was dismissed by the Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) for being responsible for the crash, although the disaster can be attributed to the “terrible conditions in which trains are being run” according to Claudio Bonadío, the judge responsible for the case.

After the memorial events at Once station, the group will take to the streets and march to Congress. This evening, they will move to San Martín Square to  take photos for the “500,000 Faces for Justice” campaign that seeks to achieve justice for the victims of the crash. This campaign involves taking photos of members of the public who support the cause, 200,000 photos of people from all over Argentina have already been collected.

A gas plant explosion in Mexico killed 26 and injured 46 in the northern state of Tamaulipas yesterday.

Seven people are still reported missing according to Juan José Suárez Coppell, chief executive of Mexican Petroleum (Pemex), the state company that runs the plant.

“We are looking through the analysis of what happened […] I don’t have any evidence that this incident was voluntary or an attack of any sort. Everything seems to indicate that this was an exceptional accident,” said Suárez Coppel at a joint press conference with Tamaulipas state governor Egidio Torre Cantú.

The explosion took place at 10:45am local time on the outskirts of Reynosa, the state’s largest city situated on the border with the United States.

It is believed the explosion was caused by an accumulation of inflammable gas in the measurement area of the plant; the ensuing fire then took close to three hours to control.

“Everything has been recorded so we will make sure there is an in-depth analysis that will be made public as soon as it is completed, we will get to the bottom of what happened,” emphasised Suárez Coppel.

All fatalities were maintenance workers of which four were Pemex employees and  22 were third party contractors. Twenty-one injured workers are expected to be discharged today, while 18 will remain in the hospital in a stable condition and seven cases are still considered critical.

There have been a number of accidents in similar Pemex facilities over the past few weeks with an explosion injuring four in a gas plant last week and a fire breaking out in another gas plant in Tamaulipas state in August.

A government report released this month showed evidence that accidents at Pemex facilities had gone up by 28% in 2011.

It’s Friday again!

And what a fucked up week it’s been for Argentina.

So this week’s column is going to be rather grim, because that’s just the way it is.

You have probably heard all about it by now, but just in case you don’t give a damn, which trust me, is possible, here’s what you need to know about the latest tragic train accident:

• 

  This photo illustrates what TBA considers should be an "acceptable" service. Fuck them. (Photo/Beatrice Murch)

  At 8:32 AM on Wednesday, a train from the Sarmiento line entering the Once railway station failed to break as it reached the platform and hit the track bumper at 20 km/hour, leaving 51 people dead and over 700 people injured (click here for footage from the security cameras at the moment of the crash). After such a strong impact, the second car was plunged “about six meters into the first,” which is where most of the victims were found. In case you haven’t noticed, most commuters usually enter the first car in order to get off first and save time, so you can imagine how packed it gets in there during rush hour. Most of the people inside the first car were killed instantly.

• Even though the reasons for the accident remain unknown and forensic authorities have begun analyzing every aspect of it in order to figure out what went wrong, the tragedy has once again sparked a long-standing debate about the poor state of the trains that millions of people take every day to go to work. However, a representative from Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA, the company running the train system) showed up at the station to defend the service saying that he considers it to be “acceptable.” Yeah, that’s right. This is “acceptable” to him. Or this. Or this. I shiver to think what it is he would consider “bad” service. Fucker.

• A few hours after the accident, Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi gave an unfortunate press conference, which he opened by saying that accidents like this happen all over the world (“so don’t blame us!” *hint, hint*) and then said that had this happened on Tuesday, which was a holiday, the tragedy would have been a lot less serious. In response to what you’re probably wondering: no, he has not resigned nor has he been fired.

• President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner issued a statement, saying she was deeply saddened by the tragedy and announced two days of national mourning. Then no one has any idea what happened to her but she’s been MIA ever since.

• She also cancelled carnival celebrations, which were scheduled to take place this weekend on 9 de Julio Av. This kind of makes sense since I don’t think shaking your naked ass on a float in front of thousands of people on a day of national mourning is a great idea.

• As the death toll and the amount of injured passengers continued to rise, the international media got ahold of the news and heads of state from all over the world began sending their messages of support to the Argentine population. Mexico, Chile, the United States and Spain were some of the first nations to send their condolences in light of this tragic incident. But imagine the population’s surprise when suddenly the United Kingdom, whose relationship with Argentina has been more than tense in the last few months due to the Malvinas/Falklands controversy, was among the first to say that “their thoughts were with the families of the victims and with the emergency services still trying to help those involved.” See, people? This is what true diplomacy is all about. Sure, both countries may sound like they are about to kill each other, but in the face of tragedy, you leave your differences aside and you help whoever is in need. Had this happened in the UK, would you have had a similar attitude (I’m talking to you, Argentines)? If your answer was “I would have said they deserved it for stealing our islands,” then let me just say you, my friend, are an idiot.

• Speaking of the Malvinas/Falklands, a group of Argentine journalists, philosophers and other hard-to-pinpoint professions sent an open letter to the media in which they said that they had had it with all this bullshit and surprisingly had decided to side with the islanders and their right to self-determination. Can you imagine? Traitors! So the President charged them with heresy and ordered to have them burned at the stake, to which the populace hastily complied.

• Ha! No, of course they were not burned. But everyone pretty much told them to go fuck themselves. Here’s the letter in case you want to read it in Spanish, even though I know you couldn’t care less.

• Mark your calendars: the National Day against Mining Exploitation is coming. And no, this is not another holiday that the Government just pulled out of its ass. Apparently it’s gonna be this nation-wide protest against mining activities in the north-western provinces. You’re disappointed, aren’t you? You thought this was going to be another day off, didn’t you? Well it’s not. Deal with it.

• Prestigious London-based magazine “The Economist” has had it with the local Government trying to sugarcoat inflation and announced it would stop using Argentina’s official inflation statistics. In other non-related news, I also expect them to announce soon that Darth Vader is Luke’s father, Mili Vanilli were really lip-synching all along and Bruce Willis is dead.

• In another heavy blow to the cruise industry (which is already in hot water after the Costa Concordia fuck up incident), a waitress working in the MSC Armonia died of Influenzavirus B after being hospitalized in critical condition in Santos, Brazil. Several people in the cruise, which arrived in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, started showing similar symptoms and everyone started freaking out, but then the local Government said there was no threat so everyone decided to overcome the tragic death of the waitress by going shopping in Palermo Soho. See? And they didn’t even need Dr. House for this one.

• Did you click on that “Influenzavirus B” link? You didn’t, did you? That’s OK, it’s not like you would have understood a single word of it. Let’s just call it a really bad flu, period.

• Socialite, philanthropist, Argentina’s wealthiest person in the entire
  

  No one you know. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  universe and old person Amelia “Amelita” Fortabat passed away last weekend at the age of 90 (not that you care since you never heard of her). However, she was a prominent figure who inspired Andy Warhol to paint a portrait of her. And that makes her a thousand times cooler than you (unless you’re Marilyn Monroe) and worthy of being mentioned on this column.

• And finally: here’s a video that has been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter, that at first makes you laugh and a few minutes later it keeps resonating in the echo chamber of your brain until you come to understand that there is really nothing funny about it. Maybe it’s the decadent state of that centuries-old, unusable blackboard in some God-forsaken school in Catamarca. Maybe it’s the finger-painted wall, collecting digital signatures since who knows how many years back, displaying signs of neglect. Maybe it’s the teacher’s attempt to conceal the fact that she just doesn’t know how to multiply while her students blatantly laugh at her ignorance. But mostly, I’m sure it’s the realization that this is the standard of education we’re offering future generations. Children who in a few years will be in charge of keeping society afloat while we hope to live with whatever shitty pension we’re entitled to. So yeah, that’s right. We’re fucked.

• Also, in her defense, I don’t think I’ve multiplied anything without a calculator since 1997, so I’m sure I wouldn’t know how to do it either. Give her a break.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Six days after an incident in which a yacht crashed through a canoe at the San Fernando Island, another injured victim, two year-old Tatiana Mac Dougall, has died from severe head injuries.

Last Friday, the girl was sailing with her mother, Lorena Rojas, her sister Daiana, and her cousin Vanina, when a 15-meter yacht hit their canoe, splitting it in half.  Lorena was instantly killed, while the three girls fell into the water. Daiana was rescued by a cousin in a boat nearby and Vanina, suffering minor injuries, managed to spot Tatiana floating nearby.

The victims were taken by boat to the hospital René Favoloro, where they received critical care, before Tatiana was transferred to the Patrona V. Lamb hospital in San Fernando.

The yacht that hit the canoe was commanded by Eduardo Cantón, a Uruguayan businessman who was accompanied by five other passengers. Witness Clarín Patricia Moraschi, an aunt of the girls, reported that the men in the yacht took no action to assist and proceeded as though nothing had happened.

The Mac Dougall family is now calling for an investigation into the case and has alerted other sailors about the yacht.

Throughout the week, Tatiana’s condition worsened as blood clots in her brain left her unconscious. She was pronounced dead today.

Going forward, the case will be in the hands of Facundo Osorus Soler under the charge of manslaughter.

A Fiat 128 crashed into a truck transporting domestic appliances this morning at the kilometre 100 of the national route 205, near the city of Lobos, province of Buenos Aires. The accident happened today at 10.45am.

Right after the crash the truck exploded.

The three young men who were in the car lost their lives. One of them died instantly and the other two were taken to the Lobos hospital, where they eventually passed away. The authorities are still searching for their identity.

On the other hand, Luis Edgardo Cayuquir, the truck driver, got out unharmed.

Cauquir and his wife, Mabel Judit Varela, got out of the truck cabin before the fire started in the vehicle and suffered no physical injuries.

According to the authorities, the truck driver stated that “it was impossible to deviate from the Fiat 128, which was heading in the direction of Buenos Aires and suddenly changed lanes.”

A third vehicle, a Renault Megane which was driving behind the truck at the time of the accident, ended up in the hard shoulder so to avoid the crash. Its passengers did not suffer any injuries.

Two buses collided early this morning in Palermo causing one of them to crash into the entrance of a building.

The driver of one of the buses, who was trapped by the wreckage, had to be rescued by firefighters.  He is said to be in serious condition. Five other passengers were also injured.

The accident, which happened at 5:10am at the intersection of Arévalo and Luis María Campo, involved bus lines 15 and 55.

The injured were taken to the Rivadavia, Pirovano and Fernández hospitals.