At least 4 dead, 50 hurt as train derails in Spain

The Portuguese driver was among the dead. The train hit the wall of a bridge and smashed into a pillar, according to the mayor of the nearby town of O Porrino. Pictures posted online and in local media showed one carriage of the train, which was carrying at least 65 people, lying on its side, the front completely caved in and mangled.

Helicopters, ambulances and fire engines rushed to the spot to rescue the victims, some of whom were thought to be seriously injured.

A passenger said in a video posted on local daily La Voz de Galicia that the train suddenly started wobbling. “It wouldn’t stop. I was sitting and suddenly fell on the ground,” she said.

Ramon Gonzalez, a witness who works in the station cafeteria near the accident site, said there was a “very strong bang.” “It was full of black smoke ... It’s a straight line, the train was due to stop in 50 metres, so this isn’t normal. There are still some injured here, but not very serious. The seriously injured were quickly evacuated,” Gonzalez told a Spanish television.

The train was going to the city of Porto in Portugal from the Galician town of Vigo when the accident happened near O Porrino. Manuel Carrera, deputy mayor of O Porrino, said four persons had died in the accident. 

Adif, the company that manages railways in Spain and is the in-charge of the tracks, said the accident happened around 9.30am local time just before arriving into the station. “It’s a very straight line,” a spokeswoman said.

“There isn’t bad visibility there, it emerges from a curb,” Eva Garcia de la Torre, Mayor of O Porrino, told the Cadena Ser radio. She added that the train looked old. But the reason of the derailment has yet to be determined. Spain’s railway company Renfe said the train and the driver were both Portuguese, adding that railway traffic had been suspended in the area.