14 DAY TRIAL // Spain has reported its worst train accident in the last 40 years, with 77 people dying in the town of Santiago de Compostela.
A train going into the city derailed at 8.40 p.m. on Wednesday, July 24. According to the Guardian, it was traveling at 180 kph (110 mph), more than twice the legal limit of 80 kph (50 mph) when it hit a concrete wall.
247 people were on board and 131 of them have been injured, with twenty being in serious condition.
"It was going so quickly. It seems that on a curve the train started to twist, and the wagons piled up one on top of the other," a passenger surviving the crash describes.
The train was headed from Madrid to the Galician port of Ferrol and capsized while crossing a curve before entering Santiago.
"The train started flipping over, over and over, and carriages ended up on top of others," a passenger explains.
Witnesses say that at least six cars were turned over, prompting explosions and fires. Passenger Ricardo Montesco recalled being caught underneath other travelers when his carriage capsized.
"A lot of people were squashed on the bottom. We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realised the train was burning ... I was in the second wagon and there was fire ... I saw corpses," he says.
Officials will be examining the black boxes of the train, and the Renfe and state-owned Adif companies are also running an investigation.
"We are moving away from the hypothesis of sabotage or attack," an inside source informs. El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage celebration has been canceled in light of the horrific incident.
"In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician," states Spain prime minister Mariano Rajoy.