Skip to main content

Go to:   
Guardian Unlimited
Search:
Guardian Unlimited Web
Guardian UnlimitedSpecial reports
Home UK Business Audio Podcasts The Wrap News blog Talk Search
The Guardian World News guide Arts Special reports Columnists Technology Help Quiz

Argentina


  Search this site


Go to...
Special report: Argentina

Argentina archived articles




 In this section
The new workers' revolution in the chocolate factories in Argentina

Fearful rich in Argentina keep poor at bay with gated homes and razor wire

Diego Maradona re-admitted to intensive care after complaining of abdominal pains

Ex-Argentinian troops file Falklands lawsuit

Argentina vows to pursue Falklands sovereignty

Falklands gulf widens as Argentina quits oil deal with UK

Maradona admitted to hospital in Buenos Aires for over-indulgence

Argentina scraps Falklands oil deal

Perón's widow faces asset freeze


10.30am

Buenos Aires hit by rush hour rail riot



Associated Press
Wednesday May 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited


Riot police restore order at a Buenos Aires railway station after clashes with angry passengers. Photograph: AP/DyN/Tony Gomez
Riot police restore order at a Buenos Aires railway station after clashes with angry passengers. Photograph: AP/DyN/Tony Gomez
 


Arson, looting and fighting with riot police broke out among angry Argentinian commuters when rush hour train services from a Buenos Aires station were delayed last night.

Twelve police officers were injured by flying rocks, mostly with cuts and bruises to the head and chest, and nine people were treated for smoke inhalation, said Alberto Crescenti, a spokesman for emergency medical workers.

Police fired rubber bullets and teargas when rioters pelted them with rocks as the fighting at Constituçion station spilled out to the street. Angry passengers shattered windows, set fire to a ticket sales area, looted shops and ripped payphones from walls.



Hundreds of people fled the fighting inside the station, one of the largest in South America, which has about 300,000 users daily.

During the disturbances, a motorcycle was set alight and angry youths armed with metal poles tried to break down wooden doors to a security office in the station.

Firefighters put out fires in rubbish bins and the ticket hall. Shattered glass, bricks and sticks littered the station afterwards.

The police commissioner, Ricardo Falana, reported 16 people were arrested, including two minors. He said about 100 police were needed to quell the rioters who threw a "hail of rocks" at officers.

The fighting threw the evening rush hour into chaos, forcing the cancellation of all trains.

Fernando Jantus, a spokesman for the Metropolitano train concession, said the service was interrupted because a train broke down just outside the station, preventing other trains from leaving. "The problem happened at the worst moment," he said.

Passengers have complained for years about poor commuter rail services on lines leading from Constituçion station in downtown Buenos Aires to the capital's poor southern suburbs.

Yesterday's riot was the second recent outbreak of violence at the station: the cancellation of a train service last September led to three train carriages being set alight and police making seven arrests.

Buenos Aires commuter lines were privatised in the 1990s but passengers have accused the new operators of failing to provide punctual services on crowded routes.





Printable version | Send it to a friend | Save story





UP


Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007