Driver killed and 20 injured in second deadly Spain train crash in days

A commuter train crash happend after a retaining wall fell onto the tracks in Barcelona, officials said

A commuter train has derailed in Barcelona, resulting in the death of the driver and injuries to dozens of passengers today (Tuesday). The incident comes just two days after a horrific train collision in southern Spain claimed 42 lives and left many more injured.

Authorities have stated that this latest derailment occurred when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks. Local media outlets report that at least 20 people have been injured in the crash.

This tragic news emerges as the country commences three days of national mourning for the victims of Sunday’s (January 18) catastrophic train collision. The calamitous incident involved a northbound and southbound train, carrying nearly 500 passengers between them, colliding near Adamuz in Spain’s Córdoba province, causing widespread death and destruction.

Today’s accident in Barcelona prompted the dispatch of fifteen ambulances and 35 fire crews to the scene, according to Spanish news agency EFE. Firefighters had to extricate individuals trapped in carriages.

The mishap occurred on a commuter train travelling between the towns of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and Gelida, approximately 40 kilometres from Barcelona, during a period of heavy rainfall in the region, reports the Mirror.

Sunday’s disaster took place at 7:45pm, when the rear end of a train carrying 289 passengers from Malaga to Madrid derailed and collided with an oncoming train travelling from Madrid to Huelva, another city in the south, as per rail operator Adif.

Among the fatalities of the two trains’ collision were the parents of a young girl who were returning from the Spanish capital after watching the Lion King musical on Sunday night.

Fidel Saez tragically lost his mother in the devastating crash, though his two children, brother and nephew all made it out alive after the family had been returning from watching “The Lion King,” he revealed to journalists.

“My brother has been taken off respirator. He told me that it was a miracle that he is alive. He had to get the children through a window,” Saez told national TV broadcaster TVE. “He also asked me to tell the story of our mother, how good she was.”

The front of the Madrid to Huelva train took the full force of the collision, sending its first two carriages careering off the tracks and tumbling down an embankment, with victims hurled hundreds of metres from the wreckage, according to Andalusia regional President Juanma Moren.