Valencia Metro derailment
| Date | 3 July 2006 |
|---|---|
| Time | 13:03 |
| Location | Valencia, Valencian Community |
| Coordinates | 39°27′41″N 0°22′57″W / 39.4613°N 0.3826°W |
| Country | Spain |
| Rail line | Line 1 |
| Operator | Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana |
| Type of incident | Derailment |
| Statistics | |
| Deaths | 43 |
| Injuries | 47 |
The Valencia Metro derailment occurred in Valencia, Spain's third largest city, on 3 July 2006 at 1 p.m. CEST (1100 UTC) between Jesús and Plaça d'Espanya stations on the Line 1 of the Metrovalencia mass transit system. At least 43 people were killed and more than ten were seriously injured.
El País reports that Valencian forensic scientists have identified all but one of the victims — a woman whose family has not claimed her. Twenty-one of the victims were from Torrent, a locality seven kilometres from Valencia and the train's destination. Five more victims were from the city of Valencia itself, and two were from Paiporta, which is also nearby.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred at a curve just outside Jesús station. However, data from the train's black box showed that the train's speed at the derailment point was 80 km/h (50 mph), which means it was travelling at twice the normal 40 km/h speed for this curve.
Defective wheels or the possible collapse of a tunnel wall were also being considered as possible causes. Both the Valencian government spokesman Vicente Rambla and Mayor Rita Barberá have called the accident a "chance" event. However, the trade union CC.OO. has accused the authorities of "rushing" to say anything but admit that Line 1 is in a state of "constant deterioration" with a "failure to carry out maintenance".
It has been reported that a part of the wall in the tunnel between Plaça d'Espanya and Jesús stations in the southwestern neighbourhood of Patraix may have collapsed, causing the derailment of one of the carriages, which in turn caused the carriage behind it to overturn.
The fire brigade, medics and local police went to the scene after a passenger in the crashed train called the emergency services at about 1:03 p.m. (1103 UTC).
...
Wikipedia