A young train driver died and five others were seriously injured when a wall collapsed onto a commuter train in Gelida.

San Sadurní de Anoia / BarcelonaOne person died Tuesday night and five others were seriously injured when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, causing part of an R4 train to derail. The train was traveling between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, heading towards Barcelona. The victim was a young trainee train driver, as confirmed by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). The victim was at the front of the train, inside the cab, with the lead driver and other trainees, according to Fire Department Sub-Inspector Joan Rovira. He was born in 1998 and his family lives in Seville, the Catalan police reported. As a result of the accident, all commuter and regional train services have been suspended until at least 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, when a crisis meeting will be held to assess whether service can be resumed. In any case, there will be no trains running at the start of the day.

The train involved in the accident had departed from Sant Vicenç de Calders station bound for Manresa. Around 9:00 PM, it was struck—midway between the two stations and at a point parallel to the AP-7 highway—by a collapsing wall that altered the train's trajectory. The first carriage bore the brunt of the impact and was almost completely destroyed. There were 38 people on board, one of whom died, five were seriously injured, and six sustained minor injuries. All were immediately transported to hospitals in the area and in Barcelona. An additional 26 people suffered minor injuries and were treated at the field hospital set up near the Torelló cellars. Due to the force of the impact, one passenger was trapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated by the Catalan Fire Service in an operation that took an hour. By 11:00 PM, all the victims had been rescued.

The Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque, explained that, pending the results of the investigation, the most likely hypothesis is that the retaining wall gave way due to the recent rains. At the time of the press conference, around 1:00 a.m., technical personnel had not yet been able to access the damaged train, and it was expected that throughout the night and early morning, Adif personnel, with the support of the Fire Department, would also begin the process of removing the trains.

Following the accident, commuter rail service has been suspended, and inspection teams—known as "white marches"—comprised of train drivers and infrastructure technicians, will conduct overnight track inspections to check the condition of the tracks. These assessments, called passenger marches, are routine and verify the state of the network. Paneque indicated that service will not be restored until the entire network is confirmed safe at a crisis meeting at the operational coordination center scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

Based on the findings of the inspections to be carried out in the early hours of the morning, a decision will be made regarding whether the Cercanías commuter and regional train services will resume operations this Wednesday. In any case, Paneque recommended seeking alternative means of transport and avoiding unnecessary travel: "Tomorrow will be a complicated day," he predicted. Late last night, efforts were underway to arrange bus services so that passengers stranded at Barcelona's Sants station could return home.

Hours before the Gelida accident, there was another derailment on the RG1 line, between Blanes and Maçanet, after a train struck a rock, causing no injuries. Both incidents prompted Adif to suspend all Cercanías services until technicians inspect the entire infrastructure and remove all obstacles that have fallen in recent hours.

Investigation underway

The investigation into the causes of the accident in Gelida is now in the hands of the central airport unit of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and is being led by the presiding judge of court number three in Vilafranca del Penedès (Alt Penedès). The judge and the rest of the judicial team traveled to the scene of the accident tonight to recover the body of the deceased and gather initial information.

The director of the Terminus CET Transport Studies Center, Juan Carlos Salmeron, also explained to ARA that incidents involving retaining walls that hold back the earth closest to the railway tracks are becoming increasingly frequent throughout the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula due to storms that bring torrential rain. In fact, in November 2018, Another retaining wall has already collapsed onto the commuter rail tracks in Vacarisses.causing another fatal accident. On that occasion, a man died as a result of the collision, dozens of people were injured, and the train derailed completely.

Firefighters shore up the wall

Emergency services are currently working from an advanced coordination center set up on the esplanade in front of the Sant Sadurní d'Anoia Primary Care Center (CAP). Firefighters deployed approximately seventy personnel, who shored up the retaining wall and the train to stabilize them. Among the personnel working on the ground are specialists from the search and rescue team and the collapsed structures team, who had to extricate one person trapped inside the train. They also established a safety zone and evacuated the injured so that paramedics could treat them.

The train accident has generated 28 calls to the 112 emergency number. Around 40 officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) are also working at the scene, including members of the Citizen Security Unit and the Regional Operational Resources Area (ARRO). Authorities have asked the public to stay away from the area where emergency teams are working.

The Catalan Ministers of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau; Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Silvia Paneque; and the Interior, Núria Parlon, have traveled to the scene of the accident. The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who remains hospitalized, is in contact with him and is closely monitoring the train accident in Gelida, according to government sources.

Reaction from the Semaf union

The train drivers' union Semaf has also asked Renfe and train drivers to suspend service "until further notice" due to the "numerous incidents" affecting the infrastructure throughout the day. "We ask those who are mid-journey to proceed to the station with extreme caution and not resume service," they stated. Furthermore, the commuter train accident occurred just two days after the fatal collision between two high-speed trains in Adamuz (Córdoba), where 42 deaths were reported. The Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno Bonilla, lamented the "black week" for the railway sector in a message on X, in which he expressed his solidarity with the victims of Gelida. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also expressed his "affection and solidarity" with those affected and their families.