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At least 45 killed as train derails in northern Spain Spain train crash: scores killed, more than 130 injured
(about 3 hours later)
At least 45 people were killed and 70 injured when a train derailed on the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday in one of Europe's worst rail disasters. At least 60 people were killed when a train was derailed on Wednesday in one of Europe's worst rail disasters.
Bodies covered in blankets lay next to the overturned carriages as smoke billowed from the wreckage. Firemen clambered over the twisted metal trying to get survivors out of the windows. The crash occurred as the train approached the north-western Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela at 8.40pm. A further 131 people were reported injured in the accident, the worst in Spain for 40 years. Reports said about 20 were very seriously injured, with five in comas.
The government said it was working on the hypothesis the derailment was an accident – though the scene will stir memories of 2004's Madrid train bombing, carried out by Islamists, that killed 191 people. The death toll might rise further, a spokeswoman for the office of the central government in Galicia warned.
The train operated by state rail company Renfe with 247 people on board derailed on the eve of the ancient city's main festival when thousands of Christian pilgrims travel in to pack the streets. Rescue workers were battling to free passengers trapped inside the carriages, several of which had overturned. Some caught fire. Bodies covered in blankets lay next to the overturned carriages as smoke billowed from the wreckage. Firemen clambered over the twisted metal trying to get survivors out of the windows.
"It was going so quickly … It seems that on a curve the train started to twist, and the wagons piled up one on top of the other," passenger Ricardo Montesco told Cadena Ser radio station. "The scene is shocking, it's Dante-esque," the head of the Galicia region, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said in a radio interview.
"A lot of people were squashed on the bottom. We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realised the train was burning … I was in the second wagon and there was fire … I saw corpses," he added. There were some 247 people on board the train, which was travelling from Madrid to the Galician port of Ferrol. The train jumped the tracks on what officials described as "a difficult curve" on the outskirts of Santiago. At least six carriages were derailed.
"The train started flipping over, over and over, and carriages ended up on top of others," one passenger said.
Another said: "It was going so quickly. It seems that on a curve the train started to twist, and the wagons piled up one on top of the other."
Passenger Ricardo Montesco told Cadena Ser radio station: "A lot of people were squashed on the bottom. We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realised the train was burning ... I was in the second wagon and there was fire ... I saw corpses."
One witness near the scene told the radio station she heard an explosion before seeing the derailed train.One witness near the scene told the radio station she heard an explosion before seeing the derailed train.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, held an emergency meeting with his ministers. He would visit the site on Thursday morning, his spokeswoman added. El Pais newspaper cited sources close to the investigation as saying the train was travelling at more than twice the speed limit on a sharp curve. The recommended speed is 80km an hour (50mph), and sources suggest the train was travelling as fast as 180km an hour.
The head of the surrounding Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said at least 45 people were killed and round 70 injured, more than 20 of them seriously. Both Renfe and state-owned Adif, which is in charge of the tracks, had opened an investigation into the cause of the derailment, Renfe said.
"The scene is shocking, it's Dante-esque," he said in a radio interview. An official source said no statement would be made on the cause of the crash until the black boxes of the train were examined, but it was most likely an accident.
The train was travelling from Madrid to Ferrol on the Galician coast when it derailed, state train company Renfe said in a statement. "We are moving away from the hypothesis of sabotage or attack," he said.
The crash happened a day before the city's main festival focused on St James, one of Jesus's 12 disciples whose remains are said to rest in the city. One carriage was thrown five metres from the track and landed on the other side of a retaining wall beside a row of houses. Several carriages were almost completely destroyed.
The apostle's shrine there is the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, followed by Christians since the Middle Ages. Clinics in the city were overwhelmed with people flocking to give blood, while hotels organised free rooms for relatives. Madrid sent forensic scientists and hospital staff to the region on special flights.
Both drivers of the train were unhurt in the crash. One of them was reportedly seen wandering dazed among the dead saying: "I've derailed, what am I going to do, what am I going to do?" It is still not clear whether the apparent excessive speed was the result of human error or a technical fault.
Spain's national rail company, Renfe, admitted that the service was running five minutes late, fuelling the hypothesis that it was trying to make up time.
The crash happened a day before Santiago's main festival, focused on St James. The apostle's shrine is the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, followed by Christians since the middle ages. The traditional fiesta de Santiago was cancelled and the archbishop of Santiago, Julián Barrio, sent his condolences. Mariano Rajoy, the prime minister, who was born in Santiago, was due at the scene on Thursday.
"In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician," Rajoy said in a statement.
Renfe faced criticism because it failed to issue a press release until three hours after the accident and then only reported it as a derailment without any indication of the seriousness of the accident. On Thursday night investigators were still trying to locate the train's "black box" for clues to what caused the accident.
The derailment happened less than two weeks after six people died when a train came off the tracks and hit the platform at a station in central France.The derailment happened less than two weeks after six people died when a train came off the tracks and hit the platform at a station in central France.
That accident may have been caused by a loose steel plate at a junction, French train operator SNCF said.That accident may have been caused by a loose steel plate at a junction, French train operator SNCF said.
It was one of the worst rail accidents in Europe over the past 25 years.
In November 2000, 155 people were killed when a fire in a tunnel engulfed a funicular train packed with skiers in Austria.
In Montenegro, up to 46 people were killed and nearly 200 injured in 2006 when a packed train derailed and plunged into a ravine outside the capital Podgorica.
Santiago de Compostela
City famous for pilgrimages and architecture
Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia in north-west Spain, is best known as one of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites in the world. Only Rome and Jerusalem are more significant.
The city first came to prominence in the 9th century with the supposed discovery of St James the Apostle's remains. The legend of St James became a rallying point for Christian Spain during the Islamic caliphate of Córdoba in the 10th and early 11th century.
The apostle's shrine is the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, also known as the Way of St James, a 488-mile trek from the Pyrenees. About 200,000 pilgrims made the journey last year.
Thursday 25 July marks the Feast of St James – the highpoint of the year for the 20,000 pilgrims who make the journey. There are special cathedral services, art shows, live music, fireworks, and street theatre. The city, which has 100,000 inhabitants, is also famous for its architecture, including Baroque squares, Romanesque churches and Renaissance courtyards. It was declared a Unesco world heritage site in 1985. David Batty
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