Train derailed in spain, 77 killed
Santiago de Compostela: A train derailed outside the ancient Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday, killing at least 77 people and injuring up to 131 in one of Europe’s worst rail disasters.
The train operated by state rail company Renfe with 247 people on board derailed on the eve of the city’s main festival in honour of Saint James when thousands of Christian pilgrims from all over the world pack the streets.
It was going so quickly. … It seems that on a curve the train started to twist, and the wagons piled up one on top of the other,” passenger Ricardo Montesco told Cadena Ser radio station.
“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,” he added.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, will visit the site on Thursday morning, his spokeswoman said.
“In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician,” Rajoy said in a statement.
Santiago de Compostela’s tourism board said all the festivities, including Wednesday’s traditional High Mass at the centuries-old cathedral, were cancelled as the city went into mourning.
