The death toll is rising from a train crash in the northern Spanish region of Galicia. The crash occurred on Wednesday evening when the train jumped the tracks, derailing at least six carriages. According to a spokeswoman for Galicia’s supreme court four passengers had died in hospital while the others died at the scene of the accident.
On Thursday morning the spokeswoman stated that at least 77 people had died but the numbers were provisional and the death toll could rise. Reports suggest that 131 people have been injured with 20 being seriously injured.
One passenger said:
The train started flipping over, over and over, and carriages ended up on top of others.
Another passenger, Ricardo Montesco said:
A lot of people were squashed on the bottom. We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realised the train was burning … I was in the second wagon and there was fire … I saw corpses.
No official statement has been released regarding the cause of the accident. Eyewitness accounts claim to have heard an explosion before the train derailed, while sources close to the investigation have said that the train was traveling over the recommended speed limit.
[Source: The Guardian, YouTube]
