NEED TO KNOW
- Officials said a crane arm “encroached” into a public railway clearance and struck the windows of a passing train in Spain’s Murcia region on Jan. 22
- Six people sustained minor injuries and there was no derailment, authorities said
- Three previous train incidents occurred in Spain, including the deadly one in Adamuz on Jan. 18
Authorities in Spain said at least six people sustained minor injuries following a collision between a commuter train and a crane arm, marking the fourth rail incident in the country in less than a week.
The latest incident occurred on Thursday, Jan. 22, near the port city of Cartagena in the region of Murcia, Reuters, Sky News and Spanish news outlet 20 Minutos reported.
Óscar Puente, Spain’s transport minister, said in a translated social media post that a crane’s arm extended into a railway and struck the windows of a narrow-gauge train that was passing at the time.
Emergency services and Fernando López Miras, the president of the Murcia region, confirmed the injuries and noted that the train didn’t derail in a statement shared online.
“A small collision between a crane arm and a FEVE train is what caused the incident in Cartagena. The important thing is that there was no derailment, and the six people with minor injuries — to whom I wish a speedy recovery — have already been treated,” Miras said in the translated caption.
The collision in Murcia is the fourth incident within a week involving Spain’s rail service, as the country was in mourning from the deadly high-speed train derailment-collision disaster earlier this week.
On Jan. 18, at 7:45 p.m. local time, the Iryo train heading to Madrid from Málaga was approaching the Adamuz train station when its last two cars derailed, according to a preliminary report from the transport ministry.
The derailed cars then swerved into the path of the Renfe Alvia train traveling in the opposite direction. The impact caused the two front cars of the Alvia train to fall down a 13-foot embankment.
At the time of the collision, the Iryo carried 289 passengers, and the Alvia contained 184 people, according to the Associated Press.
As of Friday, Jan. 23, the transport ministry reported that the death toll from Sunday’s incident is 45, with 29 serious injuries and 123 minor injuries.
Two days after the initial incident, a Rodalies train was near Gelida station, about 20 miles northwest of Barcelona in the Catalonia region, when it struck segments of a retaining wall that had collapsed onto the track, the transport ministry’s preliminary report said.
One trainee conductor died, according to officials. He was identified as 27-year-old Fernando Huerta from Seville, The Guardian reported.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Thirty-seven others were also injured, including five people in serious condition, according to the Catalonian Emergency Medical Services.
Another incident occurred that same day, involving a train derailment on Barcelona’s regional network caused by a falling rock, Adif reported, Reuters reported. There were no injuries.
Read the full article here
