A regional Galicia health official, Rocio Mosquera, told reporters early Thursday morning that more than 140 passengers from the train had been treated at area hospitals, with their conditions ranging from light injuries to serious and some still in surgery hours after the crash.
Officials in Santiago de Compostela canceled ceremonies planned for Thursday, when Catholic pilgrims converge on the city to celebrate a festival honoring St. James, the disciple of Jesus whose remains are said to rest in a shrine. The city is the main gathering point for the faithful who make it to the end of the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route that has drawn Christians since the Middle Ages.
The crash happened about an hour before sunset after the train emerged from a tunnel and derailed on the curve—sending cars flying off the tracks. At least one caught fire in a scene that Feijoo said was “Dante-esque.”
“The train travelled very fast and derailed and turned over on the bend in the track,” passenger Sergio Prego told Cadena Ser. “It's a disaster. I've been very lucky because I'm one of the few be able to walk out.”
Another passenger, Ricardo Montero, told the radio station that “when the train reached that bend it began to flip over, many times, with some carriages ending up on top of others, leaving many people trapped below. We had to get under the carriages to get out.”
Xabier Martinez, a photographer who arrived at the scene as rescue workers were removing dozens of bodies, said two injured train passengers told him they felt a strong vibration just before the train's wagons jumped the tracks.
