Spanish express train kills 12
Source: Agencies |
June 25, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN express train barreling through a seaside station in northeastern Spain plowed into youths cutting across the tracks to get to a midnight beach party, killing at least 12 people, injuring 14 and turning a night of celebration into one of carnage and tragedy.
It was Spain's deadliest train accident since 2003.
A large group of people - many Latin American immigrants - got off a commuter train in the beach resort of Castelldefels south of Barcelona shortly before midnight on Wednesday to head to the party. As the crowd jammed an underpass heading to the beach, about 30 people climbed down off the platform and tried to scurry across the tracks instead, witnesses said.
Seconds later, a long-distance train that does not stop at the station crashed into the youths at high speed.
Marcelo Cardona, who was on the commuter train, said everyone on board had been looking forward to dancing around a bonfire on the Mediterranean shore.
"The euphoria of getting off the train immediately became screams. There were people screaming, 'My daughter! My sister!' " said Cardona, a 34-year-old Bolivian. He said he saw "mutilated people, blood everywhere, blood on the platform."
The chairman of the state railway company RENFE, Teofilo Serrano, said he was "almost certain" the long-distance train was not exceeding the speed limit as it traveled through the station.
The Spanish news agency Europa Press quoted unnamed RENFE officials as saying the train was doing 139 kilometers per hour and the driver tested negative for alcohol and was in shock.
The beach festival was part of a nationwide ritual around the summer solstice called Noche de San Juan, or the night of St John. It is celebrated in much of Spain but with particular zeal in Catalonia. People light bonfires in town squares and on beaches, dance around them and set off fireworks.
Except for one woman in her 40s, all of the injured were 19 or younger and two are minors, said Marta Joves, spokeswoman for the Catalonia government's civil protection department. Of the 14 injured, one is in extremely critical condition, two are in critical condition and four have been treated and released, she said.
Her department gave the death toll of 12.
Enrique Sosa, a chef who works near the train station, said he rushed there and helped wash off a 16-year-old boy who was covered in other people's blood.
"He was shaking," said Sosa, a 37-year-old Uruguayan.
Sosa then lent the boy his cell phone so he could call home.
It was Spain's deadliest train accident since 2003.
A large group of people - many Latin American immigrants - got off a commuter train in the beach resort of Castelldefels south of Barcelona shortly before midnight on Wednesday to head to the party. As the crowd jammed an underpass heading to the beach, about 30 people climbed down off the platform and tried to scurry across the tracks instead, witnesses said.
Seconds later, a long-distance train that does not stop at the station crashed into the youths at high speed.
Marcelo Cardona, who was on the commuter train, said everyone on board had been looking forward to dancing around a bonfire on the Mediterranean shore.
"The euphoria of getting off the train immediately became screams. There were people screaming, 'My daughter! My sister!' " said Cardona, a 34-year-old Bolivian. He said he saw "mutilated people, blood everywhere, blood on the platform."
The chairman of the state railway company RENFE, Teofilo Serrano, said he was "almost certain" the long-distance train was not exceeding the speed limit as it traveled through the station.
The Spanish news agency Europa Press quoted unnamed RENFE officials as saying the train was doing 139 kilometers per hour and the driver tested negative for alcohol and was in shock.
The beach festival was part of a nationwide ritual around the summer solstice called Noche de San Juan, or the night of St John. It is celebrated in much of Spain but with particular zeal in Catalonia. People light bonfires in town squares and on beaches, dance around them and set off fireworks.
Except for one woman in her 40s, all of the injured were 19 or younger and two are minors, said Marta Joves, spokeswoman for the Catalonia government's civil protection department. Of the 14 injured, one is in extremely critical condition, two are in critical condition and four have been treated and released, she said.
Her department gave the death toll of 12.
Enrique Sosa, a chef who works near the train station, said he rushed there and helped wash off a 16-year-old boy who was covered in other people's blood.
"He was shaking," said Sosa, a 37-year-old Uruguayan.
Sosa then lent the boy his cell phone so he could call home.
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