The accident occurred at Once Station in Buenos Aires on Saturday as the train failed to stop at the end of the line, slamming into a retaining wall and hurting at least 99 people.
Footage from the crash site showed several derailed train cars, with some lying on the platform. Several passengers were trapped onboard until firefighters could rescue them.
Some 30 ambulances and two helicopters participated in the rescue operation, taking the injured to a dozen nearby hospitals.
“Ninety-nine patients have been treated at Buenos Aires hospitals due to the accident,” said local health Chief Graciela Reybaud.
The exact cause of the crash remains unclear, but one witness said the train appeared to have had problems with its breaks prior to the accident.
The train seemed as if it “was having trouble braking for two stations” before crashing at the end station, said Julio, adding that his fellow passengers “were getting nervous, as they remembered” the fatal accident at the same train station in 2012.
In February 2012, 51 people died and another 700 were injured, when another train crashed into a buffer wall, after it failed to stop at the end station.
Argentina has experienced a number of other train accidents recently, including a serious collision last June, when a speeding commuter train rammed a stationary train, killing three people and hurting more than 300 others.
The government has decided on several measures to improve the problem-plagued train system, including installing surveillance cameras in the conductors’ cabs and replacing old worn-out train cars.
CAH/HSN