A Security Camera

A Security Camera's View of High Speed Train Crash in Spain

  • By Ginger Hill
  • Jul 25, 2013

On Wednesday, July 24, at 8:41pm, as a speeding, eight-car, Alvia express train approached the city of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, from Madrid, security cameras caught the horrific instant it derailed. Taking a tight curve at a high rate of speed, the train crashed into a wall, killing at least 78 people and injuring 178 individuals, including 5 Americans.

“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,” said Ricardo Montesco, a passenger on the train.

According to Spanish newspaper, El Pais, this dramatic footage captures one of Europe’s worst rail disasters in four decades. The newspaper cited the driver of the train stating immediately after the crash that he had been travelling at 118mph around the curve that listed a speed limit of 49mph.

“We’re human! We’re human! I hope there are no fatalities because they will fall on my conscience,” exclaimed the conductor while trapped in the wreckage. (Source of quote: El Pais)

As of this morning, all 77 bodies have been removed from the wreckage as Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister has declared 3 days of national mourning.

“The scene is shocking, it’s Dante-esque,” said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the head of Spain’s Galicia region, according to Reuters.

Sources: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/25/19661944-video-captures-high-speed-train-crash-in-spain-at-least-77-killed?lite

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/25/spain-train-crash-death-toll-speed-limit/2585743/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23448002

http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

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