Dozens dead as train derails, splits apart

Dozens dead as train derails, splits apart 25 july 2013

.Santiago de Compostela, Spain (CNN) — The train races into view, and in the space of a heartbeat, the cars derail and crash into a wall of concrete, flipping onto their sides and skidding along the track with terrifying speed and force.

Security footage shows the horror of the moment an express train derailed as it hurtled around a curve in northwestern Spain on Wednesday, killing at least 78 people and injuring 178, local officials said.

Flames burst out of one train car as another car was snapped in half after the crash. Rescue crews and fellow passengers pulled bodies through broken windows and pried open doors as stunned survivors looked on.

Investigations into the cause of the crash continue, but suggestions that the train was traveling too fast appear to be gaining weight.

The train driver is being questioned by police and is under formal investigation, said María Pardo Rios, a spokeswoman for the Galicia regional supreme court. “He is not being charged by a judge at the moment — it is all at a police level,” she said.

Expert: Train may have gone too fast


A car from an express train that crashed is lifted Thursday, July 25, at Angrois near Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The train derailed as it hurtled around a curve Wednesday, July 24, killing more than 75 and injuring more than 175, as of Thursday morning, officials said.
Emergency personnel work at the crash scene July 25. An investigation into the cause of the derailment is under way, but Spain’s transportation minister says the train appears to have been going too fast.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, center, visits the crash site July 25 with Public Works Minister Ana Pastor, right, and Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the regional government in Galicia. The latter declared seven days of mourning for victims of the crash.

A relative of one of the passengers waits to hear news in Santiago de Compostela as she talks on the phone July 25.
Other relatives of passengers wait for information in Santiago de Compostela on July 25.
Rescue workers inspect a carriage in the wreckage July 25.
A general view of the derailment in northwestern Spain on July 25.
Emergency workers at the derailment scene July 25.
Emergency personnel evacuate a man at the scene July 25.
Emergency workers help passengers July 25.
Women wait for news about crash victims in Santiago de Compostela on July 25.
Teams at the crash site July 25 expect to find more bodies, an official says.
The train was on its way from Madrid to the town of Ferrol with more than 200 passengers aboard.
An injured passenger is helped from the scene by a police officer.
The state railway company said the train derailed on a curve as it was approaching the train station in Santiago de Compostela.
Emergency workers climb on top of the wreckage as they help free injured passengers from the crash.
While it was unclear how fast the train was going at the time of the crash, it was capable of reaching up to 155 mph.
Rescuers work to pull victims from the derailed cars.
One person at the scene said he saw several passengers and witnesses helping get people out of the mangled cars.
Rescuers work to clear a derailed car.
“The efforts now center on searching for bodies and victims that could still be alive in the wreckage of the cars,” journalist Ignacio Carballo from the Voz de Galicia newspaper told CNN en Español.
Officials said blood donations were needed as a result of the crash.

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Photos: Deadly train crash in Spain


iReporter: We saw trains split in half


High-speed train derails in Spain

Ninety-five of the 178 injured are still hospitalized, the local government’s official Twitter account said. Thirty-two adults and four children are in critical condition.

At least 73 people died at the scene and the others at the hospital, Rios said. In Spain, judges typically record deaths that take place outside of hospitals.

Judicial teams are still at the crash site and expect to find more bodies, she told CNN on Thursday morning.

At least five Americans were injured in the crash, a U.S. State Department official said Thursday. The U.S. Embassy in Madrid is trying to determine the exact number. “At this time, we have not received any reports of U.S. citizen deaths,” the official said.

Interim charge d’affaires Luis G. Moreno at the embassy said it was in touch “with families of some injured American citizens.”

“We are deeply shocked by the news of last night’s train crash in Galicia. Our hearts and prayers are with the friends and families of the victims,” he said.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said one British citizen was injured.

The crash came on the eve of a public holiday held to mark the region’s saint’s day. Local officials canceled festivities planned for Wednesday night and Thursday across Galicia.

Train’s speed questioned

The state railway, Renfe, said the train crashed on a curve several kilometers from the train station in the city of Santiago de Compostela, a popular tourist destination.

The train had 218 passengers aboard and was nearing the end of a six-hour trip from Madrid to the town of Ferrol in northwest Spain when it derailed at 8:41 p.m. Wednesday, the railway said.

It was unclear how fast the train was traveling when it crashed. It was capable of going up to 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph), said Julio Hermida, a spokesman for the state railway.

The driver, who suffered minor injuries, told police he had entered the bend too fast, TVE reported.

Rafael Catala, secretary of state for transport and housing, told Spanish radio network Cadena SER that the “tragedy appears to be linked to the train going too fast,” but that the reasons for that are not yet known.

iReporter: We saw trains split in half

Spanish news agency Efe and national daily El Pais cited sources within the investigation as saying that the driver had said the train was going at about 190 kilometers per hour, and that the limit on that curve was 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph.)

The president of Renfe, Julio Gomez-Pomar, told radio station COPE on Thursday that the train had undergone a routine inspection that same morning.

“The train did not have an operating problem,” he said. “The maintenance and control record of the train was perfect.”

Mourning declared

Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the regional government in Galicia, declared seven days of mourning in the region for victims of the tragedy.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy viewed the scene of devastation Thursday morning and visited some of the hospitalized crash victims.

Rajoy, who is from the area, told a news conference there was a “huge challenge” ahead, not least in identifying all those killed and informing their families, and he praised the response of everyone who has helped after the crash.

Two investigations are under way, he said, adding, “We want to establish what happened.”

Rajoy declared three days of national mourning to honor the victims of the crash.

The prime minister came under fire in Spanish media after a condolences message for the train crash victims posted by his office late Wednesday included a paragraph apparently “copied and pasted” from a statement previously sent to victims of an earthquake in Gansu, China.

”I would like to express my deepest condolences for the loss of human lives and the material damage from the earthquake that has occurred in Gansu has caused,” the note said.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are to visit Santiago de Compostela later Thursday.

The royal family has canceled all events scheduled for the day out of respect for the day of mourning, the royal household told CNN.

Thunderous bang

A passenger who got off at the last stop before the train derailed told the broadcaster it was packed with people at the time.

Residents who lived near the tracks told the Voz de Galicia newspaper that they heard a thunderous bang when the train crashed. Many of them rushed to the area with blankets and bottled water for the injured, the newspaper reported.

“The train had broken in half. Some pieces were on top, some pieces were on the bottom,” said Ivette Rubiera Cabrera of Florida, who caught a glimpse of the wreckage while on a family vacation in Spain and sent photos to CNN’s iReport.

“It was quite shocking,” she said. “We had never seen anything like that. We had just been on the train last week.”

Oscar Mateos told the El Pais newspaper that he saw fellow passengers thrown to the floor, then tossed from one side of the train to the other.

“Help came in five minutes, but that time became an eternity,” he said. “I helped people get out with broken legs and many bruises.”

Alen Perez, 16, said he had been walking nearby and saw passengers helping each other out of the train.

Emergency vehicles swarmed the scene. There were several bodies on the ground, he said.

Photos he took of the crash site showed mangled pieces of a train car and black smoke billowing out of the wreckage.

Crash investigation

Investigators are looking at all possible causes of the crash, a senior aide to the prime minister said Wednesday. An initial assessment indicated it probably wasn’t an act of terrorism.

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Renfe’s spokesman said he did not know how many crew members were aboard the train when it crashed. Normally, there would be at least five crew members on a train like that, he said.

Officials appealed for blood donations just after the crash but on Thursday said the short-term needs were met.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, expressed condolences from the European Union.

Pope Francis, currently on a visit to Brazil for World Youth Day, sent a telegram to the bishop of Santiago de Compostela, Julian Barrio Barrio, offering his support and prayers for all those affected by the tragedy.

King Juan Carlos earlier said the accident had saddened the country and the international community. He sent a message to the victims and their families conveying “the deepest love and all the solidarity from the Royal Family, and from the whole nation.”

CNN’s Al Goodman reported from Santiago de Compostela. CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta, and CNN’s Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN’s Laura Perez Maestro, Elwyn Lopez, Patrick Sung, Eric Marrapodi, Jill Dougherty, Nelson Quinones, Marysabel Huston-Crespo and David Valenzuela contributed to this report.