Spanish train surrounded by forest fire, passengers getting off seriously injured

The train ran yesterday from Sagunto, just above Valencia, to Zaragoza, below Barcelona. Things went wrong near Castellón. The driver saw a forest fire in the lane ahead. He decided the situation was getting too dangerous, the train stopped and wanted to come back.

48 passengers

Local media report that the train conductor asked the 48 passengers who were on board the train to remain seated. However, some of them panicked. They smashed the windows and jumped off the train before the driver managed to get back to Sagunto.

“When the passengers saw that they were surrounded by fire, some of them got back on the train,” a Spanish Railways spokesman told the British newspaper. The Guardian. “A number of them had suffered burns.”

Travelers on the right track

According to A Punt, a local newspaper, three people were seriously injured. They were transported by helicopter to various hospitals. A 58-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl were reportedly seriously burned. At least ten other people were slightly injured.

Not everyone would have taken the train back. A number of passengers left on foot on the train tracks, as can also be seen in the pictures:

It is unclear how the train ended up on a burning section of track. Local firefighters made various statements about it to local media. Spain is devastated by violent forest fires.

Also last month

In another region of Spain, not far from the border with Portugal, a train was also surrounded by fire last month. The passengers were terrified but no one was injured:

The forest fires north of Valencia have already burned more than 800 hectares of nature in recent days. South of the Spanish city, authorities are trying to fight another fire. There, 11,000 hectares of forest were burned.