Traveling home on a high-speed train from Madrid to Seville, Fernando Seco was annoyed when congestion caused the train to stop about a half-hour after its 8 a.m. departure Wednesday. Not long after, it restarted, picked up speed and slammed into another train stopped on the tracks.
Mr. Seco, 62, and other panicked passengers climbed out of their carriage at the back of the train and into a field in central Spain. They saw the derailed carriages of the train they had barreled into in an embankment farther ahead. A rail beam had pierced right through a carriage from bottom to top, like carving meat. Survivors used parts of the destroyed train as makeshift stretchers to extract the injured from the wreckage.
At least 68 people died in the crash. More than 50 others were injured, some critically. Spain is living through a recurring nightmare. For the second time in less than a year, a high-speed crash on the Madrid to Seville line threw the country into official days of mourning. In January, a collision near Adamuz left 46 dead. The crash on Wednesday surpassed that toll and became one of the deadliest train crashes in Spanish history.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the country would focus on why the crash occurred. Transportation minister Óscar Puente said the crash appeared to result from an inexplicable decision by train traffic control operators in Madrid after a safety system failed.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing