At least 12 people were killed when a high-speed passenger train slammed into a group of revelers crossing a railway track in northeastern Spain, regional authorities and media said yesterday.
At least 13 others were injured in the accident at the Castelldefels Playa station south of Barcelona at around 11:30pm on Wednesday, the interior ministry of the regional government of Catalonia said in a statement.
Spanish media said the dead and injured were mostly youths who were celebrating the annual San Juan mid-summer festival.
Reports said they had just arrived at the station on another train from Barcelona and were crossing the tracks to go to the beach, although the station was equipped with a pedestrian underpass.
One witness told media the train they arrived on was “very full” and a large number of people got out at the same time so “most decided to jump across the tracks and cross to the other side of the station” to avoid the crush of people.
It was then that the northbound express train came past suddenly.
The head of the regional emergency services said that the cause of the accident is under investigation but “the positions of the first victims we found gives the impression they were hit” by a train as they were crossing the track.
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