Spain has been rocked by a another train crash within a week after the deadly collisions in Adamuz and Barcelona along with a minor incident.
In the latest incident, a commuter train crashed into a crane in southeastern Spain today.
The Spanish rail operator Adif raised the alarm, saying services have been ground to a halt due to ‘the intrusion into the infrastructure gauge by a crane not belonging to the railway operation,’ but it did not reveal further details.
The emergency services reportedly treated one person for minor cuts and three with anxiety, according to RTVE.
Spain is reeling after a spate of fatal train collisions this week. In Adamuz, 41 people were killed and 123 people injured when two trains collided on Sunday.
On Tuesday, a train driver was killed and dozens were injured near Barcelona when a wall collapsed on the tracks, thought to have been caused by heavy rain.
In a third incident, also in the Barcelona region on Tuesday, a rock on the tracks due to the storm caused a train to derail. No one was injured in third incident.
The first tragedy struck on Sunday, when two high-speed trains smashed and derailed, with victims flown for hundreds of metres across the railway.
On Tuesday, a train driver died and 37 people were injured when a commuter service derailed after hitting a piece of fallen retainer wall.
Among the survivours of the Adamuz crash was a six-year-old girl, who was the only survivour of her family, who were travelling home after watching the Lion King musical.
The little girl was found walking alone along the tracks on Sunday after her parents, brother and cousin were all killed.
What caused the high-speed train crash in Adamuz?
Gareth Dennis, a railway engineer and writer, told Metro that everyone is on ‘heightened alert’ after the high-profile incidents.
However, he said there is ‘no meaningful connection’ between the crashes.
He said: ‘These are not connected, they are a series of unfortunate incidents.
‘The Barcelona one was part of infrastructure collapsing in front of the train.
‘This one is crane somehow finding a way in front of the train, and those are unrelated to Adamuz, which is likely to have been a rail break.’
He said the most important questions over the Adamaz crash are what caused the potential rail break and why a rail failure was allowed to happen.
‘Only an investigation can answer that,’ he said.
The official investigation in Adamuz is ongoing as teams search through the wreckage for the remaining victims.
Oscar Puente, the minister for transport, said yesterday that there is ‘undeniable possibility’ that the marks found on the wheels were due to a track defect.
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