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Spain Rail Disasters Intensify With Catalonia Derailment Killing Trainee Driver as Peru Exposes Emape Safety Lapses

Safety lapses prompt urgent investigations across rail and municipal operations.

Overview

  • Authorities in Catalonia report one death — a trainee driver — and at least 41 injured after an R4 Rodalies train struck a collapsed retaining wall between Gelida and Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, with five patients in serious condition.
  • A Vilafranca court has opened a judicial investigation into the Gelida crash, requesting initial reports and examining the wall failure, train speed and brake performance, as services undergo safety checks and suspensions.
  • Rail drivers’ union Semaf announced a general strike call following the fatalities in Adamuz and Gelida, while the Adamuz head‑on collision death toll stands at 42 as recoveries and forensic identifications continue.
  • Civil protection and regional officials cite severe weather from storm Harry as the main working hypothesis for destabilizing the wall that fell onto the tracks in Catalonia.
  • In Peru, reporting confirmed Emape crews had been paying their own high‑risk work insurance despite lacking formal contracts, while the company says it is regularizing ties and counts 221 workers under a contractual link.