Four dead, 47 injured in Spain train derailment

A passenger train derailed Friday in Spain’s northwestern Galicia region, killing at least four people and injuring 47 others who were taken to hospitals, authorities said.

The accident occurred at 9.30am in Porrino, about 450km northwest of Madrid, the Galician regional government said.

The regional government’s president, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told reporters at the scene that the train’s Portuguese engineer and Spanish ticket collector were among the dead, as well as two passengers, one of whom died in hospital.

Rescue crews searching through the wreckage suspect there may be a fifth victim inside a car, he said.

The train had three cars and was approaching Porrino station when it derailed. The front car came completely off the track and smashed into an electricity pylon next to the line, crushing the engineer’s cab and leaving the car leaning to one side.

The back two cars were partly off the tracks. Emergency services dispatched doctors on helicopters to the scene.

The train was carrying 63 passengers, state rail company Renfe said. It left Vigo at 9.02am and was scheduled to arrive in Porto in neighbouring Portugal two hours later.