A train derailment outside the northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela on July 24 killed approximately 78 people and injured up to 131 in one of the worst European rail disasters ever.
Bodies were seen covered in blankets laid next to the overturned carriages as smoke streamed out from the wreckage shortly after the incident according to Reuters.
Firefighters and medical workers did their best to save as many lives as they could, and cranes were seen still pulling out debris 12 hours after the crash took place.
One official said speeding was most likely what caused the derailment, which took place as the train reached a curve in the track. Public works minister told Reuters that it is "too early" to draw conclusions.
The train could have been traveling at over twice the speed limit when it hit the curve according to the El Pais newspaper. The report claims the train was going 190km/h on the track that has a limit of 80km/h.
"We heard a massive noise and we went down the tracks. I helped getting a few injured and bodies out of the train. I went into one of the cars but I'd rather not tell you what I saw there," Ricardo Martinez, a 47-year old baker from Santiago de Compostela, said according to Reuters.
The city's tourism board announced that all festivals to celebrate Saint James, including the traditional High Mass, had been canceled as the city is still mourning those who died in the crash.
Passenger Ricardo Montesco claims that the train approached the curve at high speed, twisted, and the wagons piled up on top of the other according to the Cadena Ser radio station.
"A lot of people were squashed on the bottom. We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realized the train was burning," said Montesco according to the radio station. "I was in the second wagon and there was fire. I saw corpses."
The crash appeared to be an accident, not an act of terrorism according to local officials. The train company said that there was not a technical issue with the train at the time of the incident.
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