At least 13 people were injured as a public transport bus collided with a commuter train early Tuesday morning, July 18, at a railroad crossing near Japeri train station, a city in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. . According to the fire department of the state of Rio de Janeiro, none of the victims is in danger of death.
The collision happened at 4:33 a.m. local time, 8:33 a.m. in Lisbon, when a bus, whose driver likely thought he would have time to pass, moved ahead of a train warning sign at a railway crossing next to the station. The train driver, noticing the team on the line, turned on the sound signal, and then the brake system, but could not avoid a collision, since a heavy train needs a considerable distance to stop completely after the emergency brakes are applied.
The only thing that didn’t happen was a major tragedy, because the train, approaching Japerie station, was already slowing down before the bus took a chance and tried to cross the railway track. Of the 13 injured, four with more serious fractures were taken to hospitals in other cities, two to Nova Iguazu General Hospital and two to the San Francisco Xavier Hospital in Itaguai.