At least 90 passengers injured after two trains collide when signal system malfunctions in Argentina

At least 90 passengers have been injured after two trains collided in Argentina on Friday.

One train carrying was crossing a bridge in the Buenos Aires town of Palermo when it rear-ended another that was transporting supplies for track maintenance work at 10:31 am local time.

The fire department and paramedics responded and were able to remove the injured passengers of the wagons within 40 minutes, Buenos Aires Chief of Government, Jorge Macri, told reporters.

Macri said two passengers were airlifted to area hospital. He said they are in critical condition.

A train carrying passengers crashed into a maintenance train on a bridge in the Buenos Aires town of Palermo on Friday. Authorities reported 60 passengers were injured - 30 were taken to area hospitals  

Paramedics tend to injured passengers who were in a train crash in Palermo, Argentina, on Friday

The transit union secretary said that the signal system on the train line had not functioned in 10 days

Transit union secretary, Omar Maturano, revealed the train line signal system had been shut down for the past 10 days.

'There is theft of high voltage cables,' he told reporters. 'We have been working without signals for 10 days, due to the degradation of the railway and lack of security.

'We are working blindly. They don't fix the trains because there is no money. I hold the (government) responsible for the incident.' 

Sources with knowledge of the investigation told TN news network that repairs were being done to the signal system on the track before the passenger train collided with the maintenance train.

Transportation Secretary Franco Mogetta said authorities are looking into the cause of the accident.

'We are sorry for this terrible accident. Luckily we do not have (deaths to report),' he said. 'We are investigating the causes of the accident. There are multiple hypotheses, we cannot forecast anything.'  

Footage of social media showed the front car of the passenger trained completely wrecked. 

First responders could be seen escorting passengers through the opposite track while teams of paramedics treated the injured lying on stretchers. 

Christian Maidana, 32, was sitting in the third passenger car and on his way to his waiter job at a school, when the train suddenly stopped and caused his head to hit a metal bar in the seat in front of him.

First responders were able to evacuate passengers within 40 minutes 

The fire department ordered passengers to remain in the train because of a possible oil spill before they were evacuated 

Paramedics transport injured commuters after two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday morning 

'It was 10 seconds of shaking, a terrible scare,' he told La Nación newspaper. 'When I realized that we were on top of the bridge, I was terrified because everything was shaking. 'I thought we were going to fall.'

Maidana said he walked towards the first car and found passengers lying on the floor with their faces covered in blood.

A retired woman, who was traveling with her granddaughter, said that she usually sat in the first car, but opted for a seat in the last wagon.

She said that they were instructed to remain in their cars because of a potential oil spill before they were evacuated.

'I felt three strong whiplashes, I thought the train was going to overturn,' she said.