Train crash in Spain, 78 dead and 130 injured

chaplainDMK · 2013-07-25 09:07:14

This is pretty big news, and I've checked over the Forums but couldn't find any posts about it, so here we go: (p.s., your search function sucks GS) Seven days of mourning have been declared in the northern Spanish region of Galicia after 78 people died in a train crash on Wednesday.Four people died in hospital, the rest at the site of the accident, a spokeswoman for Galicia's supreme court said on Thursday morning. She added the numbers were still provisional. Judges in Spain are responsible for recording deaths.The crash occurred as the train approached the north-western Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela at 8.40pm. A further 131 people were reported injured in the accident, the worst in Spain for 40 years. Reports said about 20 were very seriously injured.The death toll might rise further, a spokeswoman for the office of the central government in Galicia warned. One Briton was among the injured, the Foreign Office confirmed. The US State Department said five Americans were hurt.Rescue workers battled to free passengers trapped inside the carriages, several of which had overturned. Some caught fire. Bodies covered in blankets lay next to the overturned carriages as smoke billowed from the wreckage. Firemen clambered over the twisted metal trying to get survivors out of the windows.'The scene is shocking, it's Dante-esque,' the head of the Galicia region, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said in a radio interview.Guardian Both drivers of the train were unhurt in the crash. One of them was reportedly seen wandering dazed among the dead saying: 'I've derailed, what am I going to do, what am I going to do?' It is still not clear whether the apparent excessive speed was the result of human error or a technical fault.Guardian Apparently the train was doing 190 km/h in a 80 km/h zone. Guardian articleTrack-side security camera footage