Two killed as Chilean train on test run collides with cargo train

By Natalia Siniawski

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Two people were killed and nine injured on Thursday when a train performing a test run by Chile’s state railway company (EFE) collided with a cargo train operated by private rail firm Fepasa, EFE said in a statement.

The incident happened in the San Bernardo area on the outskirts of the capital shortly after midnight when the EFE train collided with a stationary Fepasa train carrying approximately 1,346 metric tons of copper.

The injured, including four Chinese nationals, were part of the test train crew and were receiving medical treatment. Local prosecutor Pedro Aravena told local media the injured were in serious but not life-threatening condition.

EFE said the two people who were killed were operators of the Fepasa cargo train.

Local law enforcement opened an investigation into the accident. The prosecutor’s office detained two EFE officials as part of the probe.

Initial findings indicated that the passenger train was conducting speed maneuvers when it collided with the stationary train, according to Aravena, who was speaking at a news conference.

He added that the train undergoing the test run was not informed of another cargo train approaching from the south.

The Transport Ministry told Reuters the EFE passenger train was equipped with a black box, which had not yet been retrieved, adding the train’s GPS system was operational at the time of the accident.

(Reporting by Benjamín Mejías Valencia and Natalia Siniawski in Gdansk and Natalia Ramos in SantiagoEditing by Miral Fahmy, Christina Fincher and Frances Kerry)