Spain’s rail network is under scrutiny after a commuter train crashed near Barcelona just days after at least 43 people died and 152 were injured in a collision between two high-speed trains.
The second crash in as many days occurred at approximately 9pm on Tuesday when a retaining wall collapsed on to the track near Gelida in the region of Catalonia in north-east Spain, derailing a local train.
A trainee driver, named as 27-year-old Fernando Huerta from Seville, was killed and 41 people were injured, five of whom are in a critical condition.
It is believed the wall collapsed as a result of the unusually heavy rainfall that Catalonia is experiencing. However, as a precaution the region’s network was shut down pending inspections, stranding hundreds of thousands of people and causing chaos on the roads.
The last wagon of the train is by far the safest. In both of these accidents, people in the last cars of all of these three trains have made it out unscathed.
Just promise to be in the last wagon. You can go to the last wagon, or to one of the last ones, even if your ticket is for another one.
Similar to planes where sitting in the seats beside the wings tends to be the safest place (due to the enhanced structure).