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A rail bus derailed, leaving several people injured, including children and pregnant women, in a locality of the municipality of Palma Soriano, in Santiago de Cuba, according to preliminary reports.
The vehicle veered off the railway track and ended up overturned, causing injuries to at least nine people. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, according to information shared on social media.
The accident occurred in the Ya veremos-Barranca community, and the injured, none seriously, were transported by truck to the PPU (Principal Emergency Polyclinic) in Palma Soriano, where they received medical attention, specified the communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
In his post, he stated that the causes of the accident are still unknown. However, the photographs depict the devastating condition of the railway line in the area, completely overgrown with weeds.
In a post shared in the group “Palma Soriano, Ciudad del Cauto”, Yorlandi Bravo Alonso indicated that there are nine injured individuals and confirmed that no one died in the unfortunate incident.
"Railway accident. 9 injured, and thankfully there are no fatalities," he stated.
In the comments on the posts, it was revealed that several of the injured suffered fractures.
Many people questioned the deplorable conditions of the vehicles -known as ferrobuses- used for public transportation in those areas, which are the only means the residents have to travel to other places.
"It is sad that no one takes into account the terrible conditions of those cars, which are extremely old, and the roads they travel on, not to mention. Unfortunately, they are the only means of transportation for those people—children, pregnant women, the elderly, the sick, everyone... who lives there," expressed a young woman whose family resides in that area.
The woman worriedly noted that, with this incident, it will be "much more complicated for the population to get out of there and resolve their situations. Tragically, these things that affect us so much have to happen to see if anyone feels compassion for their situation (which no one cares about, because they have complained a thousand times through every possible channel, and no one cares)."
He reported that on countless occasions there are no cars available because "they're either broken down, or there's a lack of fuel, or a lack of accountability," and he called on the authorities, including the First Secretary of the Party, Beatriz Johnson: "It would be good to raise some awareness and think a little more about the people, who are the only ones affected by each existing inefficiency, of which there are many."
In Holguín, a train derailed due to the poor condition of the railway was reported. Meanwhile, in Palma Soriano itself, another collided with a trailer whose driver did not obey the stop sign.
The ferrobuses, commonly known as "caratas," are public transportation vehicles that have been in operation in Cuba for many years, especially in rural areas where the lack of transportation options poses a constant challenge for the residents.
These train-buses are "created" from the technical modification of discarded buses, to which defense mechanisms, locomotive wheels, and other attachments are adapted, allowing them to travel on railway tracks.
In some provinces, the government has arranged for trailers to be added to the ferrobuses, in order to increase their capacity for transporting goods and to use them for delivering basic staple products and local agricultural productions to the more remote communities.
Although the conversion of buses into ferrobuese has been presented by the government and the official press as an achievement and a solution to the lack of transportation, in reality, it is the dramatic consequence of the severe crisis that has rendered the fleet of buses in the country inoperative.
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