"We were all practically thrown out": witness from one of the passengers of the train derailment in Gelida

The first treatment for the dozen injured in the R4 train accident in Gelida took place at the Caves Torelló manor house, hastily converted into a field hospital. The collapse of the retaining wall that derailed the train occurred just 250 meters from the property, where the owning family lives. "They arrived disoriented," Paco de Rosa Torelló explained to ARA, emphasizing "the efficiency and professionalism of the emergency services" who arrived at the scene. In fact, the strong impact was felt from inside the house around 9:00 p.m., but it wasn't until the firefighters entered the property, breaking through the security perimeter to reach the wrecked train, that the residents realized something was wrong. While firefighters, police, and Adif technicians worked to rescue the passengers, the aid operation for those affected was launched. "We opened the doors without thinking, and the injured started arriving, one with a broken ankle, another with bruises, and all of them disoriented," explains the company owner. Fear and disorientation, aggravated by the darkness of the night, the cold, and the damp drizzle, dominated the scene. The family that owns the train opened their home, distributing coffee, water, hot drinks, and blankets. The complex quickly became a refuge after the trauma, a place to rest, use the restroom, or contact family to explain the situation. "We reassured them and tried to calm them down, calm them down, and calm them down," continues De la Rosa, who estimates that they attended to between 80 and 90 people, from both the affected train and a second train that had to stop a few meters before. "A sudden stop"

Among the train passengers, confusion reigned as to how everything had unfolded in a split second. "There was a very sudden stop, and we were all thrown about," recalled David Castelló shortly after the R4 train he was traveling on derailed near Gelida. The accident, which occurred around 9:00 p.m., has It left one dead and 36 affected, 5 of whom are seriously injured.Initial hypotheses suggest that a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, and the train traveling towards Manresa crashed between the Sant Sadurní and Gelida stations. David was returning home from work and was traveling in the third carriage of the train involved in the accident. In fact, his stop was the very next one. "I must have been in the third carriage, and there was a woman standing who I saw was seriously injured," he explained. After the collision, they managed to open the carriage doors "to let some air in," and then everything went dark. "We leaned out the doors and saw a train coming in the opposite direction. Some of us jumped out, started signaling, and finally it stopped," Castellón recounted. "We got to the front of the train, to the first carriage, and we could hear shouts for 'help.'"

"It was as if the entire floor of the first carriage had disappeared, as if it were suspended in mid-air, with people there in the middle," he describes what he saw when he reached the front of the train. "It was very shocking to reach the front of the train and see that there was no train anymore and people were screaming," he says. He also admits that at that moment he "froze" and found it difficult to help, although he did give his jacket to one of the passengers who was in the worst condition.

"Eternal" wait

Three hours after the accident, David admitted that it was difficult to calculate the time that had passed between noticing the collision and seeing help arrive: "Access was incredibly difficult. I don't know if it was 20 minutes or half an hour, I don't know... But the wait felt endless until we saw the firefighters arrive." Although David escaped the collision unharmed, he was taken to the Cavas Torelló in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, where a field hospital had been set up. "They did a fantastic job, a fantastic job," he said.