Spanish train tragedy death toll revised downwards
Spanish authorities today finished forensic work on the remains of a group of partygoers killed by an express train as they crossed railway lines to reach a beach festival.
The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia said in a statement that forensic services had been able to determine the number of fatalities from the body parts recovered, and adjusted the death toll from 13 to 12.
In addition to the dead, at least 14 people were injured at the coastal resort of Castelldefels, south of Barcelona, shortly before midnight on Wednesday as about 700 young people left a train heading for traditional bonfires to celebrate the feast day of St John on a Mediterranean beach.
The court said 10 of the dead had been identified, leaving forensic experts still working to identify two people.
The statement said the court had asked for information contained in the train’s black box to be made available to accident investigators.
Also today, officials said police had fined a woman who climbed down from the station platform and crossed railway lines at the same spot hours after the deaths.
Television footage showed an auburn-haired woman clambering down, crossing two sets of tracks, and climbing up onto the opposite platform before being stopped by security guards who called police.
The regional government said a Russian woman had been given a penalty but did not identify her.
There is both an overhead bridge and an underground crossing at the station, although on the night of the accident the bridge had been closed and the tunnel was packed with people.
Five of those killed were Ecuadorean, two were Bolivian and two were Colombian nationals, the government said.
The nationality of the most recently identified victim has not been released.
The feast of St John is popular in Spain where bonfires illuminate beaches on the mainland and its Balearic and Canary Islands.
