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🇵🇪 Peru /Disasters & Emergencies

Peruvian man dies after being hit by train while trying to board the wrong Metro carriage in Chile

From La República · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Wilmer Quispe, 38, died after a train struck him at Pajaritos station on Santiago’s Line 1 on Sept. 2.
  • Prosecutors believe he crossed the tracks after mistaking a train on the opposite side for the one he intended to board.
  • Quispe’s family said inadequate signs and barriers at the station also contributed to the accident.

Wilmer Quispe was trying to catch what he believed was his train when another convoy entered the track he was supposed to use and struck him at Santiago’s Pajaritos station.

The 38-year-old Peruvian died on Sept. 2 after apparently becoming confused on the platform. According to an investigation by Chile’s Centro Norte Prosecutor’s Office and security footage reviewed by local outlet BioBioChile, Quispe saw a stationary train after coming down the platform stairs. He apparently failed to realize that it stood on the opposite side of the tracks.

It was completely broken.

· Rogelio QuispeQuispe’s brother described the scene after the fatal accident to Chilevisión.

The frames of the platform doors may have made the train appear to be on his side, investigators believe. Quispe then ran toward the opposite carriage. At that moment, a train arrived on the track he should have boarded and hit him. The impact caused fatal injuries to his brain and cervical region.

Quispe had lived in Chile for more than a decade and worked in the food industry. He had been traveling from Curacaví with his wife and sister and left behind a 19-year-old daughter. His brother, Rogelio Quispe, said the family accepted that a mistake may have occurred but also blamed the Metro for insufficient safety markings. "It was completely broken," he told Chilevisión. He added, "We conclude that it was a mistake because there were no protective barriers farther ahead." The station displays notices saying platform doors are being installed as new safety measures are introduced.

We conclude that it was a mistake because there were no protective barriers farther ahead.

· Rogelio QuispeHe argued that inadequate infrastructure and signage also contributed to the death.
About this summary

Originally published by La República in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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