Image copyright EPA Image caption The mangled front coach of the Portuguese train near O Porrino station

At least four people have been killed and 47 hurt in a train derailment near O Porrino in north-western Spain.

About 60 passengers were on the Portuguese train when it derailed at 09:30 (07:30 GMT) just outside the station.

Those killed were the Portuguese driver and Spanish conductor, a US tourist and another Spaniard.

O Porrino is located south of the Galician city of Vigo, near the border with Portugal.

In July 2013 Spain suffered one of its worst train crashes in the same region, when a high-speed train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, killing 79 people and injuring some 170. The driver failed to brake in time before a bend.

In Friday's crash the train apparently hit part of a bridge, El Pais newspaper reported. A photo showed that the train had also struck a signalling tower next to the line.

Authorities have opened an investigation and retrieved the train's data recorder for analysis. Emergency workers fear there may be another body hidden in the wreckage.

The train operator is Comboios de Portugal and it was travelling on the Vigo-Porto route.

'Covered in blood'

The front portion of the train was badly mangled, but the last two carriages were only lightly affected and Spanish media report that many people were able to walk off the damaged train.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The train's driver and conductor were among the dead

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Several foreign nationals were reportedly on board

Railway and track management company Adif said the accident had happened just before the train arrived in the station.

"The train braked suddenly and suitcases fell on top of us," a passenger told Reuters news agency. "My mother smashed into my father and hurt him, my mum's neck really hurts... When we came out of the carriage we saw people covered in blood. It was really horrible."

A passenger in a video posted by local daily La Voz de Galicia said the train had suddenly started swaying from one side to the other.

"It wouldn't stop," she said. "I was sitting down and I fell to the ground. And then the train stopped. It was that quick."

At least three people were killed on the spot, while the fourth died in hospital.

Cause unclear

Jesus Vazquez Almuina, health representative in the regional government, was quoted as saying there were many nationalities on board.

"There were a lot of Spaniards and Portuguese obviously, but also Americans, Germans, people from Chile, Argentina... people who were doing the Road to Santiago [pilgrimage] and were continuing their trip to Porto," he said, according to AFP news agency.

Helicopters, ambulances and fire engines were speedily deployed to the scene.

The reason for the derailment has yet to be determined. Officials say it took place on a "very straight line" in an area of good visibility.

O Porrino Mayor Eva Garcia de la Torre told told local radio the train involved in the crash looked old.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Rear parts of the train were relatively unscathed</s>At least two dead as train derails in northern Spain

MADRID, Sept 9 (Reuters) - At least two people have died after a train derailed in Galicia, in northern Spain, a spokesman for the local emergency services said on Friday.

Local newspaper La Voz de Galicia said the accident took place at a station.

In 2013, 80 people were killed in Spain's worst rail disaster in decades when a high-speed train went off the tracks and slammed into a wall near Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia. (Reporting by Emma Pinedo, Writing by Sarah White, Editing by Angus Berwick)</s>At least two people have died after a train derailed in Galicia, in northern Spain, a spokesman for the local emergency services said on Friday.

Local newspaper La Voz de Galicia said the accident took place at a station.

In 2013, 79 people were killed in Spain’s worst rail disaster in decades when a high-speed train went off the tracks and slammed into a wall near Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia.</s>The Portuguese driver was among the dead in the accident, which saw the train hit the wall of a bridge and smash into a pillar, according to the mayor of the nearby town of O Porrino.

Pictures posted online and in local media showed one carriage of the train, which was carrying at least 65 people, lying on its side, the front completely caved in and mangled.

Helicopters, ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene to attend to the victims, some of whom were thought to be seriously injured.

A passenger said in a video posted on local daily La Voz de Galicia that the train suddenly started wobbling.

“It wouldn’t stop. I was sitting down and I fell to the ground,” she said.

“And then the train stopped. It was that quick.”

Ramon Gonzalez, a witness interviewed by Spanish television who works in the station cafeteria near the accident, said there was a “very strong bang.”

“It was full of black smoke … It’s a straight line, the train was due to stop in 50 metres (164 feet), so this isn’t normal.

“There are still some injured here but not very serious, the seriously injured were quickly evacuated.”

The train was travelling from the Galician town of Vigo to the city of Porto in Portugal when the accident happened near O Porrino.

Manuel Carrera, deputy mayor of O Porrino, said four people had died in the accident.

Adif, the company that manages railways in Spain and is in charge of the tracks, said the accident happened around 9.30am local time (0730 GMT) just before arriving into the station.

“There isn’t bad visibility there, it emerges from a curb,” Eva Garcia de la Torre, Mayor of O Porrino, told the Cadena Ser radio.

She added that the train looked old.

But the reason of the derailment has yet to be determined.

Spain’s railway company Renfe said the train and the driver were both Portuguese, adding that railway traffic had been suspended in the area.

Galicia was also the scene of one of Spain’s worst rail disasters in 2013, when around 80 people were killed and another 144 injured after a train slammed into a concrete wall on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela.

The train was approaching a curve at more than twice the speed limit on that piece of the track in Galicia.

A pre-trial investigation of the July 24, 2013 crash carried out by a court in Galicia concluded the accident was caused by a lapse in attention by the driver, who was on the telephone at the time of the crash with another rail employee.

He has been charged with negligent homicide, and a Spanish court said earlier this year that an investigation into the crash would be reopened to determine if Adif was also partly responsible.

As regional elections near in Galicia at the end of the month, several political parties including the ruling conservative Popular Party and the Socialists announced they had suspended their campaign, which had only just kicked off.

Meanwhile Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, tweeted his concern.

“My condolences to the families of those who died and hoping that the injured recover quickly,” he said.</s>At least three dead after train derails in northern Spain

MADRID, Sept 9 (Reuters) - At least three people were killed on Friday after a train derailed in Galicia in north-western Spain, emergency services said.

Dozens of people were also injured in the crash, Spanish media said, citing Eva Garcia de la Torre, the mayor of O Porrino, the town closest to the accident.

The train between the city of Vigo and Porto, in Portugal, was carrying 63 passengers and two crew members, including the driver, state-run railway operator Renfe said. Spanish media reported the driver was among those killed.

Television footage from the accident, which happened just before 9.30 am (0730 GMT), showed the train's front carriage flipped onto its side and rammed up against an electricity pylon next to the track. The crash took place close to a station.

In 2013, 80 people were killed in Spain's worst rail disaster in decades when a high-speed train went off the tracks and slammed into a wall near Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia.

It was not immediately clear what had caused Friday's crash. (Reporting by Emma Pinedo, Writing by Sarah White, Editing by Angus Berwick)</s>At least four people were killed on Friday after a train derailed in Galicia in north-western Spain, emergency services said.

About 47 other passengers were also injured in the crash, authorities said.

The train which was travelling between the Spanish city of Vigo to Porto in Portugal, was carrying 63 passengers and two crew members, including the driver, state-run railway operator Renfe said.

Spanish media reported the driver was among those killed.

The train, which derailed just before 9.30am local time (7.30am Irish time ) had three cars. The front one came completely off the track and hit a post next to the line, leaving it leaning to one side. The back two cars were partly off the tracks.

Adif railway infrastructure company said it has opened an investigation. The derailment occurred on a straight stretch close to Porrino station.

Renfe also said that the train belongs to Portuguese company Comboios and that the engine driver has Portuguese citizenship.

It was not immediately clear what had caused Friday’s crash.

In 2013, 80 people were killed in Spain’s worst rail disaster in decades when a high-speed train went off the tracks and slammed into a wall near Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia.</s>At least two people are believed to have died after a train derailed in northern Spain this morning.

There is also an increasing number of injured people, thought to be more than 50, after a train came off the tracks near Pontevedra, Galicia.

It had been travelling form the port city of Vigo to Valenca do Mino, in Portugal, when it derailed in the Spanish town of O Porrino at 9.30am.

The reasons why the train derailed are as yet unclear, according to Spanish media.

One of those dead is believed to be the driver, while a third person is reported to be in a critical condition.

Firefighters and paramedics are at the scene as passengers are being rescued from the wreckage and rushed to hospital.

Spanish rail operator Adif has said all rail traffic on the line will be suspended.

In July 2013, a high-speed train traveling from Madrid to Spain’s north derailed outside Santiago de Compostela, killing 79 people and injuring 140.

This page is being updated.</s>MADRID (AP) — A passenger train derailed Friday in Spain’s northwestern Galicia region, killing at least four people and injuring 47 others who were taken to hospitals, authorities said.

The accident occurred at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) in Porrino, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Madrid, the Galician regional government said.

The regional government’s president, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told reporters at the scene that the train’s Portuguese engineer and Spanish ticket collector were among the dead, as well as two passengers, one of whom died in hospital.

Rescue crews searching through the wreckage suspect there may be a fifth victim inside a car, he said.

The train had three cars and was approaching Porrino station when it derailed. The front car came completely off the track and smashed into an electricity pylon next to the line, crushing the engineer’s cab and leaving the car leaning to one side. The back two cars were partly off the tracks. Emergency services dispatched doctors on helicopters to the scene.

The train was carrying 63 passengers, state rail company Renfe said. It left Vigo at 9:02 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Porto in neighboring Portugal two hours later. It belonged to Portuguese rail company Comboios de Portugal.

Adif railway infrastructure company said it has opened an investigation. The derailment occurred on a straight stretch close to Porrino station.</s>A passenger train derailed Friday in Spain's northwestern Galicia region, killing four people and injuring 47 others who were taken to hospitals, authorities said.

The accident occurred at 9:30am (local time) in Porrino, about 450 kilometres northwest of Madrid, the Galician regional government said.

The train had three cars. The front one came completely off the track and smashed into an electricity pylon next to the line, crushing the engineer's cab and leaving the car leaning to one side. The back two cars were partly off the tracks. Emergency services dispatched doctors on helicopters to the scene.

The train was carrying 63 passengers, the engineer and a ticket collector, state rail company Renfe said. The train left Vigo at 9:02am and was scheduled to arrive in Porto in neighbouring Portugal two hours later. It belonged to Portuguese rail company Comboios de Portugal.

READ MORE:

 * Five killed in train derailment south of the Egyptian capital

 * Train derails after hitting truck in Australia, no one killed

Adif railway infrastructure company said it has opened an investigation. The derailment occurred on a straight stretch close to Porrino station.</s>A passenger train derailed Friday in Spain's northwestern Galicia region, killing four people and injuring 47 others who were taken to hospitals, authorities said.

The Galician regional government said the accident occurred at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) in Porrino, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Madrid. It said emergency services dispatched doctors on helicopters to the scene.

The train was traveling from Vigo to Porto, in neighboring Portugal. It belonged to Portuguese rail company Comboios de Portugal.

Adif railway infrastructure company said it has opened an investigation. The derailment occurred on a straight stretch close to Porrino station.

Spanish media said the train was carrying around 60 passengers.

The train had three cars. The front one came completely off the track and hit a post next to the line, leaving it leaning to one side. The back two cars were partly off the tracks.
A train derails at a station in the town of O Porriño in Galicia, Spain, killing at least four people.