A high-speed train collision killed at least 68 people in Spain on Wednesday when one train collided with another that had stopped on the tracks, derailing both trains and shredding at least two cabins. The crash took place in Spain's Castilla-La Mancha, with the regional government confirming the death toll and adding that another 58 people required medical treatment in hospitals. Rescue workers continue to search in the wreckage for survivors and bodies, with witnesses describing a gruesome scene.
Wednesday's incident is the second high-speed rail crash Spain has suffered this year. Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the regional government, said the cause of the crash is not yet known. Spain’s rail system operator ADIF said the crash occurred Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo.
Both trains were carrying hundreds of passengers, and were headed in the same direction on a route from Madrid to Seville. CRASH INVOLVING SPEEDING TRAIN, MINIBUS IN BELGIUM LEAVES 4 DEAD INCLUDING 2 CHILDREN One train, run by the state-owned RENFE company, ran into the tail of the other train owned by private company IRYO that had stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track. Those companies were the same ones involved in January's crash.
Padilla said 397 passengers were on the RENFE train and 147 passengers on the IRYO train. David Gómez, a construction worker, was working with his brother and another colleague nearby when they heard the crash and ran to help, he told the newspaper El País. "People were trying to get out through the windows….
We cut through some fences to access the area and treated people with the first-aid kits we had brought," until emergency services arrived, he said. "As I was trying to pull a young woman out, there was a piece of a leg." Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said emergency workers were focusing on rescuing survivors and bodies from the two most damaged train cars. She said the injured are being sent to different hospitals in the area.
BYSTANDER VIDEO CAPTURES NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN T-BONING SEPTIC TRUCK AT VIRGINIA RAILROAD CROSSING "It was a high-speed impact, so we are expecting this to be a tragedy," García said. Passenger Ignacio Relaño was traveling on the RENFE train. He told state broadcaster TVE that the train had stopped momentarily on the line before it started again and then crashed into the IRYO.
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