'People were screaming inside': passengers and witnesses recall scenes of chaos after deadly train collision in Spain

Spain is in shock after another deadly train accident. Two trains collided on the line linking Madrid to Seville on Wednesday October 28, and at least 31 people died and 80 injured, according to a still provisional report. The first survivors reported scenes of chaos, like a journalist from the Spanish daily El Pais, who was among the passengers. “People were screaming inside,” he explains in a testimony published by the media.

“In the dining car where I was, passengers were ejected,” explains Antonio Jiménez Barca. According to his account, survivors sat down in the middle of the nearby field. Some tried to rescue the injured and people trapped in cars.

“I was working on my laptop when I felt a very violent acceleration and I crashed into the front seat,” also says a passenger on the Renfe train, Jesus Jeronimo, contacted by El Pais. The daily also interviewed a mason, David Gomez, who worked not far from the accident. He says he cut fences to access the area, where he began treating the injured with first aid kits. He said he noticed very serious injuries, such as torn limbs, while trying to extract a young victim.

“It’s terrible, indescribable”

“We felt a very sudden braking and I ended up in the middle of the aisle,” explained Antonio, a passenger on the Renfe train. Injured in the head, he gave details of the accident in front of the camera of regional media Ser Toledo.