Eight people were slightly injured this Thursday at about 8:30 p.m. on a train that was traveling in the direction of Cervera and that was stopped between two tunnels in Rajadell (Bages) due to a fire in the catenary.
The fire has affected the upper part of one of the wagons. The incident has caused the R-12 line to be cut between Rajadell and Calaf (Anoia). For its part, Civil Protection has activated the pre-alert phase of the Ferrocat plan.
Nine crews of the Firefighters have moved to the place to put out the fire and to accompany the seventy people who were traveling in the convoy to the station. The Sistema d’Emergències Mèdiques (SEM) has activated two ambulances.
Josué Novoa, uncle of one of the passengers who were traveling on the burned train, explained that he was waiting for his relative in Cervera when he received messages from the boy indicating what had happened. “When you say fire you get scared, but luckily he told us that it was nothing serious,” he told ACN while he waited for the rescued passengers to arrive.
Francesc Serra, head of the Delta 0 guard at the Regió d’Emergències Centre, explained to the ACN that after receiving the notice indicating that there was a stopped train, the Fire Department agents saw smoke coming out of a wagon. “All the people were already out and we have asked Adif to cut the power supply of the catenary in order to act”, he said.
During the wait, the fire also entered the interior of the wagon and the Firefighters finally had to extinguish inside the convoy. However, Serra has indicated that the fire was “small” and that it has not affected the surrounding vegetation.
Once the fire was extinguished, the Firefighters have begun to evacuate people at the foot of the track to the Rajadell station, where they have been “affiliated” and “returned” to the families that were waiting for them at the station. For the rest, Renfe has enabled a bus to take them to Calaf, where a train was waiting for them to continue the journey.
Sanae, one of the passengers who was traveling in the convoy, told ACN that she was going to the train with a cousin when they saw that “fire was starting to come out.” “We have been very scared,” she recalled.
He then indicated that the lights went out and that a passenger saw a door open. “He jumped, and everyone started jumping.” When trying to do so, her cousin was pushed and fell, and according to the passenger, she was transferred to the Manresa hospital.
Laura, Elaria and Elísia have agreed that they have been scared by the flames. “We were in the carriage and we started to see sparks, and suddenly someone yelled that there was a fire.” Then “a sleeping passenger has woken up and started to herd people into the car in front.” The three explained that it had been a time of considerable confusion, because those who ran forward were scared while those who were sitting did not know what was happening.
All this while the train continued to move, “because the driver seems not to have realized that the fire was there”, so that one of the three has decided to activate the alarm.
Another moment of confusion was when people jumped off the train, at which time they also explained that a woman fell after being pushed by another passenger who also wanted to get off.
