SPAIN sees its third rail crash in one week as a commuter train hits a construction crane in southeastern Spain.
Close to Murcia’s Cartagena, the midday collision left six people injured, two of whom are under 18.
These passengers, and ten others, had been travelling on the Renfe Cercanias AM (Ancho Metrico) service which left Cartagena at 11.40am.
Twenty minutes into its journey to Los Nietos, at kilometer 6.6, the vehicle collided with the arm of a crane which infringed onto the track clearance.
The crash caused the train’s windows to shatter and led Renfe to alert the Centro de Coordinacion de Emergencias of the accident at 12.04pm.
Cartagena firefighters, 061 ambulances, Guardia Civil and Proteccion Civil officers were all present at the scene.
The injured have been taken to Santa Lucia hospital and Rosell hospital for evaluation. In addition to the two hurt minors are two men, aged 26 and 50, and two women, aged 62 and 74.
Rail operator Adif announced on social media that the line was interrupted due to ‘the intrusion into the infrastructure gauge by a crane’, but have not yet provided further details.
A spokesperson for Murcia’s emergency services has however been confirmed that the train was not ‘overturned nor derailed’.
Alternative travel arrangements were made for affected passengers with a bust transport plan established until 1.30pm when service was restored.
The crash comes after Sunday’s high-speed train collision in Cordoba, that left 43 dead and over 150 injured, and yesterday’s crash in Barcelona in which a commuter train hit a collapsed retaining wall, killing the driver and injuring 37 people.
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