Alex Trelinski
A cargo train collided with a commuter train in the Barcelona area on Monday, killing the passenger train driver and injuring 86 people.
Nine people were taken to hospital following at the incident at Sant Boi de Llobregat station- 15 kilometres from Barcelona.
The accident happened at 6.00 pm according to the FGC rail company.
The freight train carrying potash derailed as it came into the Sant Boi station and smashed into the front of the commuter train, which was leaving the station.
A Catalunya government statement said: “The driver of the passenger train died as a result of the impact.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered his ‘deepest condolences to the family of the train driver’.
Catalunya’s vice president, Jordi Puignero, visited the accident site and said an investigation would start immediately into what caused the crash.
In 2013, a train crashed in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, killing 80 passengers and leaving more than 100 injured in the worst train crash in recent decades.
The train crashed off a section of the high speed track with the long-delayed trial of the driver expected to start this autumn.
He’s been accused of using a mobile phone, prompting a loss of concentration which caused the accident.
READ MORE:
- One year on from Spain’s fatal Santiago train crash and still no justice for victims
- Santiago fatal train crash driver begs forgiveness from victims
- VIDEO: The deadly Santiago train crash, captured on trackside camera
