Ernestina Pais, a prominent Argentine journalist and television presenter, died on June 26, 2026, aged 54, when a Tren de la Costa train struck the black Honda City she was driving at a level crossing in Martínez, San Isidro. Later reports placed the collision at about 19:24, at the intersection of Sáenz Peña and Elcano streets. Pais was the car’s only occupant and died in the impact.
Security-camera footage became basic to the investigation. C5N reported that a recording lasting about 30 seconds showed another vehicle crossing in the opposite direction before Pais’s car tried to pass diagonally around barriers that were lowered or descending. The train struck the Honda City on the driver’s side. Investigators assessed the footage alongside recordings from the locomotive and municipal cameras.
The San Isidro prosecutor’s office handled the case. Prosecutor Carolina Asprella closed the investigation after receiving the final accident-reconstruction report, more than two months after the crash. Investigators drew on video recordings and forensic examinations. Those examinations included an autopsy and toxicology tests, while investigators also conducted planimetric analysis and examined the car. The final accidentology report ruled out mechanical failure in the Honda and found no evidence that a third party caused the collision. The case was treated as a fatal accident.
The preliminary autopsy attributed Pais’s death principally to severe cranial trauma. It also recorded injuries to the liver and spleen. Toxicology tests of blood and urine were reported negative for alcohol and drugs. Investigators considered these findings alongside the video and technical analyses when reaching their conclusions.
Pais was widely known for her work as a journalist and presenter, including on Mañanas informales. She was part of the touring production El divorcio del año, written by José María Muscari, and was scheduled to perform that evening at the Nini Marshall Theater in General Pacheco. Diego Ramos and Juan Palomino were also in the production, along with Romina Gaetani. Pais was reportedly traveling to the performance when the collision occurred. Muscari paid tribute to her on Instagram, sharing a photograph of her on stage and a farewell message.
Her death also affected her family and colleagues. Her older sister Federica’s television program, Once Once, was suspended after the tragedy, and the channel announced the cancellation of its Friday broadcast. In October 2026, actor and broadcaster Gastón Pauls narrated a memorial to Pais at the Martín Fierro de Radio awards, a public tribute to her career and life.
