DOZENS DIE AS SPANISH TRAIN DERAILS IN GALICIA
Survivors say the train was travelling very quickly as it went around a bend
MT NEWS: A train has derailed in north-western Spain, killing at least 60 people and injuring many more, officials in the Galicia region have said.
All 13 carriages of the train, which was travelling from Madrid to Ferrol, came off the tracks near the city of Santiago de Compostela.
Images from the scene showed bodies strewn near ruined carriages, and emergency crews searching the wreckage.
Analysts say it is the worst rail accident in Spain in four decades.
Leader of the regional government Alberto Nunez Feijoo confirmed the death toll but told radio Cadena Ser that it was too early to say what caused the accident.
“There are bodies lying on the railway track. It’s a Dante-esque scene,” he said in comments translated by the AFP news agency.
The government said it was working on the hypothesis the derailment was an accident.
“We are moving away from the hypothesis of sabotage or attack,” an official said.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy convened an emergency ministerial meeting late on Wednesday and is due to visit the scene of the accident on Thursday. He was born in Santiago de Compostela.
“I want to express my affection and solidarity with the victims of the terrible train accident in Santiago,” Mr Rajoy said on his Twitter account.
Local authorities have issued an appeal for residents to donate blood to hospitals in the area.
About 320 members of Spain’s national police force have been deployed in response to the train derailment, officials say.
One witness, Ricardo Montesco, described how the train carriages “piled on top of one another” after the train hit a curve, speaking to Spanish Cadena Ser radio station.
“A lot of people were squashed on the bottom. We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realised the train was burning…I was in the second wagon and there was fire. I saw corpses,” he added.
The BBC’s Tom Burridge in Madrid says Thursday is a local holiday in the region, and many people would have been preparing to celebrate.
Thousands of Christian pilgrims were expected to flock to Santiago de Compostela to attend the city’s main festival in honour of Saint James.
However, the city’s tourism board said all festivities planned for Thursday have been cancelled.
Local journalist Francisco Camino said the region was in shock.
“This is a tiny place and nothing happens here, nothing important or tragic,” he told the BBC.
“We were preparing for the celebrations and now this could turn out to be the worst train crash in many years.”
Railway firm Renfe said the train was carrying at least 218 passengers, and came off the tracks on a bend about 3km (two miles) from Santiago de Compostela station.
It was on the express route between Madrid and the ship-building city of Ferrol on the Galician coast.
The company says it and the track operating company Adif are collaborating with a judge appointed to investigate the accident
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