Government officials say the arson in three different stations was premeditated, and politically motivated.
The secretary of transportation of Argentina, Mr. Juan Pablo Schavi, said the enterprise “Trains of Buenos Aires” has filed a “sabotage” complaint, following an investigation which revealed that delays, were caused by a derailment in Sarmiento, an accident that was caused by foul play, and not mechanical fault. At first glance, the ensuing delays from the derailment caused commuters to be angry and proceed to torch numerous trains in anger.
These disgruntled commuters allegedly burnt 8 train cars in the stations of Haedo, Ciudadela, Ramos Mejia and Liniers. Dozens of people were involved and several were arrested.
Buenos Aires Trains spokesman Gustavo Gago says it’s not easy to set a train on fire, but the mobs appeared to be well-organized, destroying security cameras and coming prepared for the arson attacks. This lead authorities to believe that the derailment and the ‘disgruntled commuters’ were actually organized criminals - though an investigation is still underway.
