BARCELONA (Spain), Jan 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A train driver has been killed and at least 37 people injured, five seriously, after a commuter train derailed and crashed near Barcelona just days on from a deadly two-train collision in southern Spain on Sunday.
According to local officials, on Tuesday evening the Rodalies train collided with a retaining wall which fell onto the track between Gelida and Sant Sadurní.
Catalonia regional fire Inspector Claudi Gallardo said all passengers had been removed from the train.
The incident occurred as heavy storms battered north-eastern Spain, as coastal areas in the east and north-west of Spain are on high alert because of the weather.
Eleven ambulances were on the scene in Gelida, Catalonia – around 35km west of Barcelona – treating those injured, emergency services said.
The local fire service said 35 crews had been sent to the area and one passenger trapped inside the train had been rescued.
In a later update it said that no-one remained inside and that its crews were conducting a sweep of the area to rule out any further victims.
Emergency services said they had evacuated some of the injured to nearby Moisès Broggi, Bellvitge, and Vila Franca hospitals.
As well as the five seriously injured people, six were in a less serious condition and 26 were in a “mild” condition, emergency medical services said.
Another train on the Barcelona commuter network also derailed on Tuesday.
“The axle was struck by a rock dislodged by the storm,” Spain’s rail network operator Adif said in a statement.
The train was running between Blanes and Maçanet-Massanes, north-east of Barcelona.
No injuries have been reported and services have been suspended.
About 400,000 commuters are expected to be without train services on Wednesday morning, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.
Services across the Rodalies commuter rail network have been suspended completely while safety checks are carried out.
Rail operators are expected to meet with authorities after the inspections.
The crashes in Catalonia come two days after two high-speed trains collided in Adamuz, Andalusia, in one of the worst Spanish rail accidents in over a decade.
At least 42 people are known to have died after carriages on a Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed over to the opposite tracks and then collided with an oncoming high-speed train. — NNN-AGENCIES