Spain: At least one person has reportedly been killed and 37 injured after a Barcelona commuter train crashed overnight, Spanish authorities said. Commuter rail services in Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region were suspended on Wednesday. The accident occurred after the train hit a retaining wall that had fallen onto the tracks, according to authorities.
Spain’s railway operator ADIF said the containment wall likely collapsed due to heavy rainfall that swept across the north-eastern Spanish region this week.
The suspension of commuter trains triggered major traffic jams on roads leading into Barcelona. Regional authorities in Catalonia advised people to reduce unnecessary travel and companies to allow remote working while the disruptions continued.
The victim of the crash was a trainee train driver, regional authorities said. Of the 37 people affected, five were severely injured. Six others were in less serious condition, emergency services said. Most of the injured had been travelling in the first train carriage.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez acknowledged the Barcelona-area crash. “All my affection and solidarity with the victims and their families,” he said on X.
The crash comes days after Spain's worst railway disaster since 2013. Rescue teams were still searching for victims in the wreckage from Sunday's high-speed crash in southern Spain that killed at least 42 people and injured 292, some 800 kilometres (497 miles) away.
Three days of national mourning were under way and an investigation in the cause of the crash was being investigated when this crash happened.
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