A train in northwestern Spain derailed Wednesday night, tossing passenger cars on their sides and scattering bodies along the tracks with at least 77 people feared dead and as many as 140 injured, Spanish newspapers said.
Dozens of corpses covered in blankets lined the ground along the train tracks leading into Santiago de Compostela, the capital city of Galicia, according to Spain's El Pais newspaper.
The crash happened a day before Santiago de Compostela's main festival paying tribute to the remains of St James, one of Jesus' 12 disciples.
The apostle's shrine in the city is the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, followed by Christians since the Middle Ages.
It is yet unknown what caused the derailment. One train car flew over an embankment and landed about 50 feet away from the tracks, El Pais reported.
There were more than 200 people on the high-speed train.
Fire and rescue crews quickly descended on the chaotic scene as several carriages burst into flames and smoke wafted through the air.
Crews later brought in a giant crane to remove the charred wreckage in a desperate search for those who remained trapped.
"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," passenger Ricardo Montesco told Cadena Ser radio station.
Another witness told the radio station she had heard an explosion before seeing the derailed train.
A spokesman for the regional government's office described the derailment as an accident — one of the worst in the country's history.
But the wreckage will stir memories of 2004's train bombing in Madrid's Atocha station, carried out by Islamists, that killed 191 people.
"We can confirm there was an accident, but we cannot confirm mortalities as yet," the official told Reuters.
The train belongs to the state-owned Renfe company.
No one was immediately available to comment from Spanish train operator Renfe whose logo was visible on the wrecked carriages.
- NYDaily
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