Argentine train crash kills 49

Rescue workers extract a passenger from a commuter train that crashed into the Once train station at rush hour in Buenos Aires February 22, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

BUENOS AIRES - A packed commuter train plowed into the buffers at a Buenos Aires station during morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 600 others, officials said.

 
They said the train was unable to stop, presumably due to faulty brakes, and it slammed into the buffers inside the centrally located "Once" station. More than 800 passengers were aboard the train, state news agency Telam reported.

A police spokesman said 49 people had been killed.

"The train entered the Once station at 26 kilometers per hour (16 mph)... we suppose there was some flaw in the brakes," Transport Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi was quoted as telling Telam.

Hundreds of thousands of people travel into Argentina's capital from the suburbs every day. The dilapidated and overcrowded rail services, run by private companies and heavily subsidized by the state, are plagued by accidents and delays.

In September, two commuter trains crashed into a city bus, killing 11 people. And one year ago, four people died during another train accident.