8
University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Friday, Sept. 13, 1985
Railway officials held responsible
49 dead in crash in Portugal
United Press International
NELAS, Portugal — Authorities yesterday blamed railway station managers for the fiery head-on collision of two passenger trains Wednesday night that killed at least 49 people in the worst railway crash in Portugal's history.
Rail officials said the error that caused the collision was that railway station managers failed to order a Paris-bound express to allow an oncoming local train to pass.
The state-owned railway and the national government ordered separate investigations of the accident.
By 9 p.m. yesterday, officials put the death toll at 49 and said more than 150 people were injured, with 87 hospitalized. They feared the death toll would mount because many bodies were cut into pieces and could not be counted.
Most of the passengers aboard the express were Portuguese workers returning to jobs in Paris. It was not
known whether any foreigners were killed.
A saddened prime minister Mario Soares silently toured the charred, mangled wreckage in an isolated northern area. Portugal declared three days of official mourning and Pope John Paul II sent the local bishop a message declaring his profound sorrow.
The eight-car northbound express slammed at 60 mph into the four-car local train near Viseu, 200 miles northeast of Lisbon, officials said.
Rail officials said the Alcafache and Nelas stations gave almost simultaneous green lights to the two trains, sending them onto a single track in opposite directions.
The express was supposed to stop at Manguaide and wait for the local to pass, but because it was 15 minutes late, officials ordered it stopped at Nelas instead. Nelas workers, however, allowed it through, rail officials said.
"Human error permitted the two
trains to leave practically simultaneously from two stations on opposite sides," said Queiroz Martins, head of the railway Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses.
"Conditions for circulation and security were not met," Martins said at a news conference near the wreck.
Many of the victims burned to death when 52 gallons of fuel in the express locomotive burst into flames shortly after impact, engulfing three passenger cars on the express and two on the local in fire.
"It was like hell," said Luis Abreu, a fireman from Aguari da Beira who was one of the first to arrive.
"We heard screams and more screams — they were so strong, so strong," said Maria Rosa Nunes, an elderly woman who lives nearby.
The injured jammed hospitals in a 38-mile radius and residents lined up to donate blood.
"First there was a huge shock, then flames everywhere," recalled Maria Celeste Ribeiro, 35, clutching
her 4-month-old daughter Karen in her hospital bed in Nelas. "Then everyone began shouting and we tried to open the doors and windows, but we couldn't.
"One man broke a window and began throwing his children out. I carried the baby and I crawled out."
Her two young sons also escaped, said Ribeiro, who suffered blackened eyes and bruises.
Workers toiled all night and late yesterday, prying apart the crushed cars to search for bodies and clearing the tracks. Hundreds of curious people, some of whom walked miles, mixed with the crews.
Rail officials said they hoped to reopen the track by late yesterday. The crash was Portugal's 13th train wreck this year. Ten people died in the 12 others.
El Salvador military raids 12 rebel houses
United Press International
SAN SALVADOR, EI Salvador
- Security forces yesterday raided 12 rebel safe houses in San Salvador in a bid to smash a growing urban guerrilla movement. But they failed to find any sign of the president's kidnapped daughter.
Lt. Carlos Aviles, chief military spokesman, said one of the houses raided in the dawn sweep was located only 400 yards from the residence of President Jose Napoleon Duarte in the exclusive Escason neighborhood of San Salvador.
Aviles said there was no direct connection between the raids and the kidnapping Tuesday of Ines Guadalupe Duarte Duran by armed men who killed one of her bodyguards and gravely wounded another.
sibility for kidnapping Duarte and a woman companion, but leftist guerrillas are the primary suspects.
No group has taken respon-
He said an undisclosed amount of arms, ammunition, documents, explosives and propaganda stored by leftist guerrillas had been seized in the simultaneous raids.
Information on the houses was obtained by military and security forces from different sources that Aviles said were reliable.
Security at the president's residence was extremely heavy yesterday, and 12 security helicopters flew over the city throughout the morning.
"One of the manners used in order to disguise or achieve a perfect cover is to live like a common family," Aviles said as he left one of the raided houses from which children were seen being led away.
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ATTENTION PRE-MED STUDENTS
Sept. 17, 7 p.m.
Sig 8 Room, Kansas Union
There will be a meeting for Juniors and Seniors interested in applying to medical school:
Important information. Representatives from K.U. Medical School will attend. Don't miss it.
- * *
Representatives from K.U. Medical School will come to K.U. to visit with students on an individual basis on:
Sept. 23
Sept. 30
Oct. 7
Oct.14
Oct.21
To make an appointment, see the Pre-Med Secretary in 106 Strong Hall.
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