Spain tragedy: Train derails in Barcelona days after high-speed rail collision; 1 killed, 37 injured

A commuter passenger train derailed near the Spanish city of Barcelona on Tuesday night (local time) after a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks following heavy rain, killing the train driver and injuring 37 people, regional authorities said.

The accident occurred near the town of Gelida, around 35 minutes outside Barcelona, involving a commuter service on the heavily used R4 line, which connects several municipalities in northeastern Spain, according to CNN.




The derailment took place at around 10 pm local time, the train operator said. Authorities said the retaining wall fell onto the tracks due to heavy rainfall that swept across the region this week.

Emergency services received 28 calls related to the incident. Twenty ambulances from the medical emergency system (SEM) and 38 units from the Catalonia regional fire department were dispatched to the scene, officials said.

Firefighters established a security perimeter and worked to stabilise both the train and the collapsed wall. Injured passengers were evacuated from what authorities described as a “hot zone” and treated by emergency services. One person had to be “extricated” from inside the train, according to officials.

Claudi Gallardo, an inspector with the Catalonia regional fire department, said in televised comments that four people were seriously injured, Reuters reported. All passengers were removed from the train, he said.

Several people sustained injuries of varying severity, including the driver, who died after being assisted by first responders, authorities confirmed.

According to AP, emergency services said that of the 37 injured, five were seriously hurt, while others sustained less severe injuries. Most of those injured were traveling in the first carriage of the train.

Spain’s railway infrastructure manager ADIF said the retaining wall likely collapsed due to the heavy rainfall, adding that commuter services along the line were cancelled.

The accident comes just two days after a separate deadly rail crash in southern Spain, where two high-speed trains collided near Adamuz in Córdoba province, killing at least 41 people and injuring dozens more. Emergency workers were still recovering bodies from that crash as Spain began three days of national mourning, AP reported.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez acknowledged Tuesday’s derailment, writing on X: “All my affection and solidarity with the victims and their families.”



Spain’s minister of interior and Security, Nuria Parlón, and minister of territory, Silvia Paneque, were traveling to the site of the Gelida accident, regional authorities said.

While Spain’s high-speed rail network is generally regarded as reliable, commuter rail services have faced operational challenges in recent years, though accidents causing fatalities remain rare, according to AP.