El Pais reported that the death toll in Spain’s worst train disaster in decades has now risen to at least 78, with scores more reported injured. Spanish officials appeared to confirm the numbers.
Officials said initially that the crash, which occurred on the eve of a local Christian festival, appeared to be an accident, not terrorism. In 2004, Islamists blew up trains in Madrid, killing 191 and wounding hundreds.
The express train, carrying 218 people between Madrid and Ferrol, left the tracks at 8:42 p.m. (2:42 p.m. ET) about two miles from the station at Santiago de Compostela, in the Galician region, said the government-owned railway, Renfe. The number of crewmembers was not released.
All 13 carriages derailed, and four overturned. TV images showed one car torn apart, another on fire and blanket-covSpain’s El Pais newspaper said that it was told by the operator of the train that it was going 190km/h on the stretch of track that has a limit of 80km/h. Another Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, also reported that the train may have approached speeds of up to 190 km/h. But neither report has been confirmed and Spain’s national rail operator has not commented on the allegation.ered bodies beside the ruined carriages.
Source: USA Today
The train company said Thursday that there does not appear to have been a technical fault with the train.
