At Least 35 Die in Train Derailment in Northwestern Spain: State TV

First-Ever Wreck on Spanish High-Speed Track Appears to Be an Accident, Interior Ministry Says

A train traveling in northwestern Spain derailed Wednesday, toppling passenger cars on their sides and leaving at least one torn open.
Oscar Corral/European Pressphoto Agency

Smoke rose from the derailed train.
Alén Pérez/Twitter

It wasn't immediately clear how many people were injured or if any had died.
Oscar Corral/European Pressphoto Agency

The accident occurred on high-speed tracks near the train station in Santiago de Compostela, 60 miles south of El Ferrol. The train was headed to El Ferrol from Madrid on Wednesday..
Oscar Corral/European Pressphoto Agenc

Train cars lay twisted on the tracks.
Alén Pérez/Twitter

Rescue workers try to reach passengers trapped in the derailed train. 24 July 2013"

Injured passenger helped away by policeman. 24 July 2013

MADRID—At least 35 people were killed and at least 60 more injured late Wednesday as a train derailed near Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, Spain's state television reported.

The accident appeared to be caused by excessive speed as the train approached the station at Santiago, the capital of the region of Galicia, state TV said. The express train, of a type that runs on high-speed tracks but slightly slower than the highest-speed models, had departed from Madrid earlier in the day. The train was headed to El Ferrol, about 60 miles north of Compostela.

This is the first accident ever on a Spanish high-speed train track. Spain has one of the largest high-speed networks in the world, serving most large cities.

"Everything right now points to an accident," a spokesman for Spain's interior ministry said, adding there was so far no evidence of a terrorist attack.

Images broadcast on TV showed a string of burned and mangled train cars still smoking at a bend in the track. Several bodies covered by blankets were also shown. The train carried between 200 and 300 travelers.

The train crashed about 2 miles away from Santiago de Compostela at around 8:42 p.m. local time, when between 10 and 13 cars overturned, state TV reported. Local residents told Europa Press, a Spanish news agency, that an explosion was heard around 8:40, but others said the train was simply running too fast at the bend.

It wasn't immediately clear exactly how many people had died or were injured.

Officials with Spain's state-owned Renfe passenger-train company and the Adif rail-infrastructure authority didn't immediately answer telephone calls or return messages seeking comment.

The train, from the state-owned Renfe company, was headed to El Ferrol from Madrid with more than 200 passengers on board. The cause of the derailment is not clear.

First images from the scene showed bodies being pulled from mangled wreckage. All 13 carriages left the tracks and four overturned completely, officials said.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy expressed his "affection and solidarity" with the victims. His office said he would visit the scene on Thursday.

The rescue operation was continuing into the night. Reports said many local people were going to hospitals to donate blood.

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