Another train derailment in Spain kills driver & leaves 37 injured after wall collapses onto track as passengers trapped
ANOTHER train crash tragedy has rocked Spain just days after an accident claimed the lives of at least 42 people.
The latest horror in Barcelona left the driver dead and five others seriously injured.
An estimated 32 other people suffered injuries of various descriptions.
This latest incident took place near Barcelona – between the towns of Gelida and Sant Sadurni d’Anoia.
The deceased driver was trapped in the cabin with three other crew members, who had to be rescued from the mangled wreckage.
According to the civil protection of the Catalonia region, the accident was caused by a “retaining wall” [collapsing] on the rails.”
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The train traveling between Manresa and Sant Vicenç de Calders collided head-on with the obstacle.
Emergency services were called to the scene at 9:02 p.m. with twenty ambulances and 38 firefighters.
A statement said: “We received 28 calls and several ambulances were dispatched along with firefighters and police officers. »
A field hospital has since been set up nearby, where the injured were transported for initial assessment.
Rescuers were forced to use torches to search through the debris, which had transformed the derailed train car into a mass of crumpled metal.
Spanish rail infrastructure operator Adif confirmed that rain from a storm caused the wall to collapse, creating the obstacles the train crashed into, adding that Catalan commuter trains would remain suspended while crews inspected the tracks overnight.
If no problems are detected, train services will resume, according to Adif.
The mayor of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Pere Vernet, told local media that the accident occurred about four kilometers from his town.
He lamented “the lack of investment in infrastructure”, but acknowledged that he had not seen rain like this for some time.
Spanish President Pedro Sanchez wrote on X that he was closely monitoring the situation.
“All my affection and solidarity with the victims and their families,” he added.
Shockingly, this is not the only rail incident that occurred in Catalonia on Tuesday.
A second train carrying 10 passengers derailed near Girona after stones fell on the track.
No injuries have been reported, but authorities say recent storms are likely the cause.
The spate of horrific accidents comes just two days after two high-speed trains derailed near the southern Spanish city of Córdoba.
The tail of a train traveling from Málaga to Madrid derailed and slammed into an oncoming Huelva-bound train, plunging two train cars down a 13-foot slope.
Some passengers were catapulted through windows and their bodies were found hundreds of meters from the crash site.said the regional president of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno.
More than 40 people lost their lives in this tragedy, and the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days, making it the deadliest train accident in Spain in more than a decade.
A source briefed on the initial investigation into the cause of the fatal crash revealed a defective joint was found on the tracks.
Technicians noticed some wear at the joint between sections of the rail – called the joint plate – which had been there for some time.
Renfe President Lvaro Fernández told Spanish public radio RNE that both trains were traveling well below the speed limit of 250 km/h (155 mph), ruling out human error.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente described the ordeal as “extremely strange”.
According to him, the tragedy occurred on a flat section of track which had been renovated in May.
He also said the train that jumped the track was less than four years old.
Puente added that all the rail experts he consulted were “extremely baffled by the accident.”
The King and Queen of Spain visited the crash site on Tuesday, where they met rescue workers near the wreckage.
Dressed in dark clothes, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia shook hands with rescuers, before heading to Cordoba hospital, where some of the injured victims are being treated.
King Felipe spoke to reporters after leaving the hospital, saying he wanted to “convey the affection of the whole country” to the victims.
Santiago Salvador, a Portuguese national who broke his leg in the crash, said he felt lucky to be alive.
“I was thrown across the carriage, I felt like I was on a carousel,” Salvador, his face covered in cuts, told Portuguese state television RTP.
“It looked like hell. There were people who were very seriously injured.”
Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe, with more than 1,800 miles of track connecting the country’s major cities.
Spain’s worst rail accident this century occurred in 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in the northwest of the country.
