One Dead, Dozens Injured In New Train Crash In Spain

MADRID, Jan 21 (Bernama-dpa) -- One person died, and 37 others were injured in a commuter train accident in Spain's north-eastern region of Catalonia on Tuesday, just two days after a deadly train crash in the country's south that claimed at least 42 lives, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

Regional emergency services said the fatality was the train driver. Images published by local media showed the front of the train badly damaged.

Catalonia's civil protection agency said on the social media platform X that around 20 ambulances, along with dozens of paramedics and emergency workers, were deployed to the scene near the town of Gelida, east of Barcelona.

A retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks during a violent storm accompanied by heavy rain, striking a commuter train on the R4 line of the Rodalies network, the agency said.

Trains on the route are usually heavily crowded on weekday evenings.

Earlier, another Rodalies commuter train on the R2 line derailed further north near the town of Blanes after a landslide. The train lost an axle, though no injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, emergency services located the vehicle of a man who had been swept away by floodwaters in a usually dry creek near the town of Palau-Sator.

Firefighters said a body found inside the car was believed to be that of the missing man.

Authorities declared a red alert in parts of Catalonia due to Storm Harry, which brought winds of up to 80 kilometres per hour and heavy rainfall.

Warnings were also issued against approaching harbours and beaches as high waves battered the coast.

--BERNAMA-dpa