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| Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a train derailment in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. A train derailed in northwestern Spain on Wednesday night, toppling passenger cars on their sides and leaving at least one torn open as smoke rose into the air. Dozens were feared dead, with possibly even more injured. |
MADRID (AP)
-- A passenger train derailed in northwestern Spain on Wednesday night,
killing at least 35 people and leaving hundreds injured, officials said.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, president of the region of Galicia, said at least 35 people aboard the train were killed.
State-owned
train operator Renfe said in a statement that 218 passengers and an
unspecified number of staff were on board at the time of the accident.
Renfe did not give an estimate of the numbers of dead or injured.
Feast
day festivities planned in the city of Santiago de Compostela were
cancelled, town hall spokeswoman Maria Pardo told Spanish National
television TVE.
A photographer at the scene
said he saw dozens of what appeared to be dead bodies being extracted
from the wreck by emergency workers. TVE showed footage of what appeared
to be several bodies covered by blankets alongside the tracks next to
the damaged train wagons.
The photographer,
Xabier Martinez, told The Associated Press that he also spoke to two
injured train passengers who said they felt a strong vibration before
the derailing.
The accident occurred along a
high-speed stretch of track near the train station in Santiago de
Compostola, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of El Ferrol. Rescue workers
were seen in the television images caring for people still inside some
of the wagons.
Television footage also showed
one wagon pointing upwards into the air with one of its ends twisted and
disfigured. Another carriage had left the track altogether and could be
seen resting on a nearby road.
The train, which belongs to the state-owned Renfe company, was headed to El Ferrol from Madrid.
Officials
at the Interior Ministry and the Adif rail infrastructure authority did
not immediately answer telephone calls or return messages seeking
comment. Officials with Renfe also did not immediately return messages
seeking comment.
