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Bus, Train Collision Kills 28 In Eastern Cuba

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The Associated Press

Published: October 8, 2007

HAVANA - A bus collided with a train in eastern Cuba, killing at least 28 people and injuring another 73, including 15 in critical condition, state media reported Sunday.

Authorities were still investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred about midday Saturday in the province of Granma, about 500 miles east of Havana, according to a statement read on state television.

Cuba's state media, which typically shy away from reporting extensively about any kind of bloodshed, provided only sketchy details, and not even Granma Province's digital newspaper, La Demajagua, carried news of the accident.

The Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde had only a short story Sunday reporting the collision took place at a railroad crossing near a bridge in the small town of Veguita, in Yara municipality.

It said a train traveling from the eastern city of Santiago to the coastal city of Manzanillo collided with a bus traveling from Bayamo to the coastal community of Campechuela. The train dragged the bus to the bridge, where the bus fell below.

Buses are scarce and often overloaded with passengers in rural Cuba, where large trucks are also often commonly used as public transportation. In June, a truck transporting passengers in the same region flipped over, killing 11.
Railroad crossings in rural areas commonly suffer from visibility problems, are often marked only with a small sign and do not have automated gates and signals.

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