WATCH: The moment a high speed train derails in Spain killing 77, including Americans
At least 77 die in train crash
By JOE TACOPINO
From Post Wire Services
Last Updated: 7:48 AM, July 25, 2013
Posted: 2:15 AM, July 25, 2013
A passenger train derailed in Spain yesterday, killing at least 77 people trapped inside the crushed cars and injuring 143.
There were Americans among the dead, according to television reports.
The tragic high-speed derailment, along a curving stretch of track in the northwestern part of the country, was Spain’s worst rail accident in decades, officials said.
Bodies were covered by blankets along the tracks as rescuers used pickaxes to pry open the cars and free people inside the train cars.
Some rescuers kneeled atop train carriages that were lying on their sides and broke open the doors to reach survivors.
Images showed one car pointing up with one end twisted. Another carriage that had been severed in half was lying on a road near the track.
The crash occurred about an hour before sunset after the train from Madrid emerged from a tunnel and derailed on the curve — sending cars flying off the tracks about two miles from the Santiago de Compostela station in the Galician region. At least one caught fire.
“The train traveled very fast and derailed and turned over on the bend in the track,” passenger Sergio Prego told Spanish radio network Cadena SER. “It’s a disaster. I’ve been very lucky because I’m one of the few able to walk out.”
Another passenger, Ricardo Montero, told the radio network that “when the train reached the bend, it began to flip over many times, with some carriages ending up on top of others, leaving many people trapped . . . We had to get under the carriages to get out.”
Officials said they believe the crash was an accident, but declined to offer more details.
Video of the crash is at NY Post