afp | After serious train accident in Spain Three days of national mourning have begun in the country. Flags across the country are flying at half-mast. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the scene of the accident near Adamuz in the south of the country on Tuesday and met with rescue workers. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to at least 41.
Another body was recovered from one of the derailed wagons on Monday evening, the Andalusian regional government announced. 39 injured people continue to be treated in hospitals, including four children. In total, more than 120 people were injured in the collision between two high-speed trains.
Workers use heavy equipment
On Monday he had Andalusian Regional President Juan Manuel Moreno warned that it could take one or two days until the exact death toll is known. Workers used heavy equipment to lift the wagons, some of which were completely dented and had fallen down a slope, and to give helpers access.
The accident occurred on Sunday evening High speed train derailed near the town of Adamuz in southern Spain and collided with an oncoming train, which also derailed. The accident occurred on a straight route and the cause is still unclear. The two trains were traveling at a speed of over 200 kilometers per hour when they collided.
The cause of the accident is still unclear
According to Spanish media reports, among the survivors is a six-year-old girl who lost her parents, brother and a cousin in the accident. Firefighter Angel Uceda told radio station Onda Cero that cell phones were ringing next to the injured and dead when he got into one of the crashed wagons. “It was horrible, but we had to do our job,” he said.
The cause of the accident is still unclear. The accident occurred on a straight line in a newly renovated section; both trains were also traveling within the prescribed maximum speed. The first train to derail had last been serviced three days before the accident.
Investigation report not yet published
20 minutes before the accident, three other trains had passed the site without “the slightest anomaly on the route” being reported, Transport Minister Óscar Puente said on Tuesday. According to Puente, it is unclear whether a broken rail shown in photos from the accident site was “the cause or the consequence” of the accident.
A first investigation report into the accident is expected in two to three months, said the head of the Spanish Engineering Association, César Franco.