IT’S BEEN revealed that the driver of a train that crashed into a retaining wall that fell onto the rail track in the Barcelona area was a trainee.
The 28-year-old victim came from Sevilla and was doing training with two others under the supervision of the main driver.
A storm brought the wall down onto the rails between Gelida and Sant Sadurni d’Anoia on Tuesday at around 9pm.
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The main inpact was on the right side of the driver’s cabin, where the driver’s seat is located.
Transport Minister, Oscar Puente, said on Wednesday that the accident had ‘nothing to do with the railway service’ and was down to the weather.
“What occurred was a collapse of a wall as a result of the rain, which caused a slide on the slope of the wall which fell on the train cabin,” explained Puente.
It was a retaining wall adjoining the AP-7 motorway.
In addition to the death of the trainee driver, 37 people were injured- five seriously.
The Mossos d’Esquadra are investigating the causes of the accident- reporting to a Vilafranca del Penedes judge.
The incident came just two days after two high-speed trains derailed in Adamuz, Cordoba, in one of Spain’s worst-ever rail accidents.
At least 42 people are known to have died after carriages on a Madrid-bound Iryo service carrying over 300 passengers crossed onto an adjacent line and collided with an incoming train destined for Huelva.
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