Thomas MackintoshAnd
Guy Hedgecoe
Catalan Fire Service
A train driver was killed and at least 14 people injured after a commuter train derailed and crashed near Barcelona, local media report.
According to local authorities, the Rodalies train collided on Tuesday evening with a retaining wall which fell on the track between Gelida and Sant Sadurní.
The severity of the passengers’ injuries is currently being assessed by emergency services.
The incident occurred as severe storms hit northeastern Spain.
Many coastal areas in eastern and northwest Spain are on alert due to weather conditions. There were also snowstorms in the Spanish Pyrenees and storms along the coast of Menorca, causing waves several meters high.
Eleven ambulances were on scene in Gelida, Catalonia, about 35 km west of Barcelona, to treat the injured, emergency services said.
Local firefighters said 35 crews were sent to the scene and a passenger trapped inside the train was rescued.
In a later update, he said no one was left inside and his crews were conducting a sweep of the area to rule out any other victims.
Emergency services said they had evacuated some of the injured to nearby Moisès Broggi, Bellvitge and Vila Franca hospitals.
Mossos
The accident in Catalonia comes two days after two high-speed trains collided in Adamuz, Andalusia, in one of Spain’s worst rail accidents in more than a decade.
At least 42 people died after carriages of a Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed onto the opposite track, then collided with an oncoming high-speed train.
