"The noise was like rocks being crushed"

“The noise was like rocks being crushed,"

What had been a day of festivities for Barcelona in celebration of San Juan, turned into a night of sorrow and mourning.

At precisely 11:35 pm on the evening of June 24th, the fast Inter city train from Alicante to Barcelona was approaching the station at Castelldefels Playa. One of the last stations it was to pass through before stopping in central Barcelona to offload its burden. This was its normal routine, but the night of June 24th was to be anything but normal…..

At 11:33pm a local commuter train, travelling in the opposite direction had just pulled into Castelldefels Playa station. It was carrying hundreds of would – be revellers to an organised Beach festival as part of the day’s celebrations. As excited groups detrained in anticipation of a night of good natured fun, they were faced by a hopelessly crowded platform of people queuing to leave the station through its single, underpass exit.

It was then that a group of some 30 odd young people chose to use the other exit. Unfortunately and this time, tragically, this meant crossing the tracks behind the stopped train to get to the other platform.

The Intercity express train was bearing down on the station; the group of youngsters oblivious to its approach because the body of the train from which they had just exited blocked their view.
As one they emerged from behind the train at a pace to head across the tracks…...

Straight into the path of the high speed intercity express!!

The carnage was horrific, a scene straight from “Dante’s Inferno”.

Associated Press had this comment from a passenger on the commuter train: Sr Marcelo Cardona: "I saw mutilated people, blood everywhere, blood on the platform".

The current toll is 13 dead. Young lives tragically taken just as they were starting out on life’s journey.

16 others injured, many in critical condition.

And an entire city traumatised by the events of the night of June 24th 2010 – a night of celebration, now to be forever remembered as a night of tragedy.

I leave, as I began, with this chilling eyewitness report of the sound of the collision (as reported in El Mundo)…..

“The noise was like rocks being crushed,"

©KPBProyectos (Madrid)