A commuter train near Barcelona on Tuesday ploughed into the rubble of a collapsed wall, killing one and injuring dozens in Spain’s second deadly rail accident in days.
The latest incident is likely to raise more questions about Spanish transport safety, coming two days after the collision of two high-speed trains in the southern region of Andalusia killed 42 people — the country’s deadliest rail incident in more than a decade.
On Tuesday, “a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, causing an accident involving a passenger train” in the municipality of Gelida, about 40km west of Barcelona, the Catalonia region’s civil protection agency wrote on social media.
Photo: EPA
Gelida Minister of the Interior Nuria Parlon told local media that the crash killed one person and injured 37, several seriously.
“We regret to announce the death of one of the passengers on the train,” Parlon said, adding that authorities had not yet completed the identification process of the deceased.
“Of the total number of people treated, five are in serious condition,” she said.
Emergency workers used torches to survey the wreckage of the derailed train car, which had turned into a mass of crumpled metal.
Spanish rail infrastructure operator Adif said a storm caused a wall to fall, creating the rubble that the train slammed into.
Catalan commuter trains would remain suspended, it added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Spain’s king and queen visited the site where two high-speed trains collided on Sunday, as well as survivors of the crash that injured more than 120 people, 37 of whom were still in hospital.
The country’s deadliest rail incident in more than 12 years took place when a train operated by rail company Iryo, traveling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.
It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train heading to the southern city of Huelva, which also derailed.
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