Thursday, July 25, 2013

Deadly train crash in Spain leaves 77 dead

At least 77 people are now known to have died and more than 100 injured in a train derailment at Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain. The crash happened at 20:41 local time [18:41 GMT] on Wednesday evening and while the cause has yet to be established some Spanish media reports suggested the train may have been travelling at more than twice the speed limit around a curve [El Mundo - Spanish].

It is believed to be the worst rail crash in Spain for more than 40 years. Four carriages overturned in Wednesday's incident, wagons were crushed together, forcing parts of the carriages on top of one another whilst one was ripped apart by the force of the crash.

"I was at home and I heard something like a clap of thunder, It was very loud and there was lots of smoke," said 62-year-old Maria Teresa Ramos, who lived just metres from where the accident happened. Others spoke of bodies being strewn everywhere.

State-owned train operator Renfe said in a statement that 218 passengers and an unspecified number of staff were on board the eight-carriage train. Both drivers of the train were said to have been 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?"

The crash comes less than two weeks after another deadly crash in France left 6 dead [tvnewswatch]

More reports: BBC / Sky / CNN / France24 / Guardian / Daily Mail / WSJ


tvnewswatch, Kunming, Yunnan, China

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