In Cuba, dozens killed when train strikes bus

In Cuba, dozens killed when train strikes bus
Despite warnings, vehicle didn't stop at railway crossing

By Ray Sánchez | Havana Bureau
October 8, 2007

HAVANA - A crowded bus was struck by a train and dragged over a bridge
in southeastern Cuba, killing at least 28 people and injuring more than
70, Cuban state media reported Sunday.

The cause of the Saturday accident, one of the deadliest wrecks in
recent memory, was under investigation, but some witnesses said the bus
appeared to ignore the emergency whistle of the oncoming train.

"Some people said the bus kept going as the train whistled and whistled
before the crash," said Julio Gonzalez, a radio reporter in Granma
province, in a phone interview from a hospital in Manzanillo, one of the
hospitals where the injured were treated. "It's unclear why the bus
didn't stop."

The crash occurred about midday Saturday in Granma province, about 500
miles east of Havana, according to a statement read on state television.

Juventud Rebelde, the communist youth newspaper, reported the collision
occurred at a railroad crossing near a bridge in the town of Veguita, in
the municipality of Yara.

"People in the area said the bus was hit and dragged for several meters
before pieces of the bus fell over the bridge," said Gonzalez, adding
that the tractor trailer-like bus was carrying about 100 people. The
buses, known locally as camellos, or camels, because of their
appearance, are improvised from two cargo containers hauled by a tractor.

The train was traveling from the eastern city of Santiago to the coastal
city of Manzanillo, while the bus was en route from Bayamo to the
coastal community of Campechuela.

Of the 73 people injured, 39 were still in three local hospitals in
Bayamo or Manzanillo Sunday, including six children, according to
Gonzalez. At least 17 were in critical condition.

Gonzalez said some local residents helped evacuate the injured moments
after the crash. On the nightly news, a doctor was quoted as saying that
medical personnel from throughout Granma province were mobilized to the
three hospitals tending to the injured.

"Everyone came together," Gonzalez said. "Many people helped remove the
injured from the scene and hundreds of people made blood donations."

Buses are scarce and often packed in rural Cuba, where trucks are
commonly used as public transportation. In June, a truck transporting
people in the same region flipped over, killing 11 and injuring 50.
Railroad crossings rarely have automated gates and signals.

"This is the worst road tragedy in Granma that anyone can remember,"
Gonzalez said.

Ray Sánchez can be reached at rlsanchez@sun-sentinel.com.

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