We had to remove the dead to get to the living': train crash shocks Spanish town

"Adamuz's municipal events hall, which had been turned into an emergency response centre to which the injured passengers were ferried, told its own tale. A dozen trestle tables were neatly stacked with hundreds of blankets brought by local people. Inside and outside the hall, Guardia Civil officers mixed with local police, civil emergency workers and dozens of journalists. One ashen-faced officer was not sure how to sum up the events of the past few hours. It was what it was, he said."

"What the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, had called a night of deep pain for our country had given way to a day of shock and bewilderment in this municipality of 4,000 inhabitants in Andalucia's Cordoba province. There were moments when we had to remove the dead to get to the living, Francisco Carmona, Cordoba's firefighting chief, told Onda Cero radio."

A high-speed collision between two trains occurred on Sunday night in forested hills of eastern Andalucia near Adamuz, Cordoba province. The crash killed at least 39 people and critically injured at least 12. Emergency teams, Guardia Civil officers, firefighters, and journalists arrived at the scene; a crane lorry and support vehicles removed wreckage while investigators examined twisted carriages. Adamuz's municipal events hall served as an emergency response centre where rescued passengers were taken and locals provided blankets. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the night as one of deep pain, and local officials reported moments when rescuers had to remove the dead to reach survivors.

Read at www.theguardian.com