MADRID—At least 35 people were killed and at least 60 others injured late Wednesday as a train derailed near Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, state television reported.
European Pressphoto Agency A train traveling in northwestern Spain has derailed close to Santiago de Compostela.
The accident appeared to be caused by excessive speed as the train approached the station at Santiago de Compostela, the capital of the region of Galicia, state TV said. The express train, of a type that runs on high-speed tracks but slightly slower than the highest-speed models, had departed from Madrid earlier in the day. The train was headed to El Ferrol, about 60 miles north of Santiago de Compostela.
This is the first accident ever on a Spanish high-speed train track. Spain has one of the largest high-speed networks in the world, covering most large cities.
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"Everything right now points to an accident," a spokesman for Spain's interior ministry said, adding there was so far no evidence of terrorism.
The train carried 218 passengers plus crew members, said Renfe, Spain's state-owned train company.
Images broadcast on TV showed a string of burned and mangled train cars still smoking at a bend in the track. Several bodies covered by blankets were also shown.
The train crashed about 2 miles away from Santiago de Compostela at around 8:42 p.m. local time, when between 10 and 13 cars overturned, state TV reported. Local residents told Europa Press, a Spanish news agency, that an explosion was heard around 8:40, but others said the train was simply running too fast at the bend.
It wasn't immediately clear exactly how many people were injured or if any had died.
Officials with the Adif rail-infrastructure authority couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
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