By David Latona
URDA, Spain, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Shocked residents of Urda swung into action to help as soon as they heard of Wednesday’s deadly train crash on the railway line a few kilometres from the normally sleepy Spanish town.
Urda’s 78-year-old pharmacist said he was one of the first on the scene, jumping into his car to try to help after his daughter told him of the crash involving two high-speed trains.
Antonio Garcia said that as he approached, the scale of the accident that has so far left at least 68 people dead became clear, with one carriage wedged inside another and scores of bodies.
“Just imagine what was inside,” said Garcia, who brought first aid materials, painkillers and tranquillisers from his pharmacy as well as blankets to help treat the injured.
Garcia described how one passenger who had lost an arm in the crash was calmly asking for an ambulance, while another was saying his final goodbyes to his family.
“His last words were ‘God is good’. For those of us who are believers, these are very beautiful words,” said Garcia.
Other locals brought bottles of water to give to passengers who were evacuated from the two trains.
‘DEVASTATING’
A few hours later, Urda was brimming with police, firefighters and emergency workers from across the region and its local sports hall was converted into a centre for survivors.
The local primary school was reserved for relatives of the victims, where a volunteer psychologist from Madrid called Carmen said she had been helping out since the morning.
“There were many mothers who found out their children had been killed. That was the worst of today. Telling a mother that her child has died in a train crash is devastating,” she said.
Some relatives made the two-hour trip from the Spanish capital Madrid to search for family members.
A woman who gave her name as Ana said she had travelled to Urda after a call from environmental police who had found their dog, Trece, who was on board a train with her husband Pepe.
Ana fought back tears as she described searching for her husband at the crash site, Urda’s sports hall and the primary school, adding that his name was not on any list.
(Reporting by David Latona; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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