BARCELONA – Commuter rail service in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region was suspended Wednesday after a Barcelona commuter train crashed the night before, Spanish authorities said.
At least one person died in the Barcelona-area crash, and 37 others were injured as crews worked at night to complete the rescue effort. The train hit a retaining wall that fell onto the tracks, authorities said.
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The news late Tuesday of another train crash mere days after Spain’s worst railway disaster since 2013 left many Spaniards in disbelief. Emergency workers were still searching for victims in the wreckage from Sunday’s high-speed crash in southern Spain that killed at least 42 people and injured dozens some 800 kilometers (497 miles) away.
Three days of national mourning were underway, while the cause of that crash was being investigated.
The victim of Tuesday night's crash was a conductor in training, regional authorities said. Most of the injured had ridden in the first train car.
The disruptions Wednesday morning caused significant traffic jams on roads leading into Barcelona. Regional authorities in Catalonia asked people to reduce unnecessary travel and companies to allow remote work while the disruptions continued.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered condolences to those affected in the Barcelona crash, writing on X: “All my affection and solidarity with the victims and their families.”
While Spain’s high-speed rail network generally runs smoothly, and at least until Sunday had been a source of confidence, commuter rail services are plagued by reliability issues. However, accidents causing injury or death are not common.
The commuter train crashed near the town of Gelida, located about 37 kilometers (23 miles) outside Barcelona.
Spain’s railway operator ADIF said the containment wall likely collapsed due to heavy rainfall that swept across the northeastern Spanish region this week.
Sunday's derailment in southern Spain
Sunday's crash happened at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, derailed and crashed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern city, according to rail operator Adif. The crash took place near Adamuz, a town about 370 kilometers (roughly 230 miles) from the Spanish capital, Madrid.
The front of the second train, which was carrying 184 people, took the brunt of the impact, which knocked its first two carriages off the track and down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters (feet) from the crash site, according to Andalusia regional President Juanma Moreno.
Authorities were still searching for more bodies Wednesday. Health authorities said 37 people remained in hospitals Wednesday morning, while 86 people were treated and discharged.
Among the injured was Santiago Tavares, a Portuguese traveler who broke his leg in the rail accident.
“Minutes before the train crash I had a feeling that an accident would happen because the carriage was moving a lot,” Tavares told Portuguese broadcaster TVI. “I even mentioned to my girlfriend that the carriage was moving more than normal. Ten minutes later the accident happens, I started to fly ... Then, I woke up and I realized I was alive.”
‘All hypotheses are open’
Officials are continuing to investigate what caused both train accidents. Transport Minister Oscar Puente called Sunday's collision “truly strange” since it occurred on a straight line and neither train was speeding.
Puente said officials had found a broken section of track that could possibly be related to the accident’s origin, while insisting that is just a hypothesis and that it could take weeks to reach any conclusions.
In August, the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers sent a letter asking Spain’s national railway operator to investigate flaws on train lines across the country and to reduce speeds at certain points until the tracks were fully repaired. Those recommendations were made for high-speed train lines, including the one where Sunday’s accident took place, the union told The Associated Press.
The train that jumped the track belonged to the private company Iryo, while the second train belonged to Spain’s public train company, Renfe.
Iryo said in a statement Monday that its train was manufactured in 2022 and had passed a safety check on Jan. 15.
Puente and Renfe president Álvaro Fernández said that both trains were traveling well under the speed limit of 250 kph (155 mph) and “human error could be ruled out.”
The accident shook a nation that leads Europe in high-speed train mileage and takes pride in a network that is considered at the cutting edge of rail transport.
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Naishadham reported from Madrid.