A commuter train has hit a collapsed retaining wall near Barcelona, killing the driver and injuring 37 people, four of them seriously, firefighters have said.
Four people are believed to be in a critical condition after the incident in the Catalonia region of north-eastern Spain, a spokesperson for the region’s fire service, Claudi Gallardo, told reporters.
The incident on Tuesday came just two days after the collision of two high-speed trains in Andalucía, in the south of the country, which left at least 42 people dead and dozens injured.
“A retaining wall collapsed on to the tracks, causing an accident involving a passenger train,” the region’s civil protection agency posted on its social media accounts.
Twenty ambulances have been dispatched to the site in Gelida on the outskirts of Barcelona along with 38 firefighter units, emergency services authorities said.
Catalonia’s fire service said “no one remained inside” the train carriages after conducting a review of the site.
“We are reviewing the underside of the train and conducting a sweep of the area to rule out any further victims,” it said on X.
“We continue securing the area to work safely.”
Spain’s railway operator, Adif, said the containment wall probably collapsed because of heavy rainfall that swept across Catalonia this week.
The suburban train derailment occurred in a region long plagued by underfunded rail services and frequent incidents.
Emergency workers on Tuesday were still searching for more victims in the wreckage from Sunday’s accident that took place about 500 miles away as the nation began three days of mourning.
Associated Press contributed to this report
