The accident in Martorell has forced the transfer to hospital this Tuesday of a Renfe Mercancías driver after three freight wagons loaded with grain crashed into his locomotive. The company assures that the worker is in good condition and that hospital care follows the protocol.
Accident in Martorell: three wagons collideRenfe has stated that the driver is in good condition and that his transfer to a healthcare center was carried out according to protocol, as reported by El País. For its part, Adif assures that the collision has not caused disruptions to rail traffic.
Three wagons loaded with grain against the cab
The first reports place the origin of the accident in the movement of three freight wagons that ended up colliding with the machine occupied by the driver. Cadena SER describes what happened as a leak of rolling stock material and identifies the affected locomotive as a unit of the Renfe 253 series.
The initial summary, which attributes the information to El Español, states that the wagons became detached from another machine and advanced until they hit the cab. This account makes it possible to learn the general sequence of the collision, but it does not determine what caused them to be loose or why they did not stop before the impact.
El País also reports a derailment of wagons related to the collision. The versions available do not allow the order of all movements of the rail material during the accident to be established with precision.
The driver, transferred to the hospital according to protocol
The information released by Renfe places the worker in good condition following the collision. The operator explains that the decision to take him to the hospital was made according to protocol, and that no detailed medical report appears in the material consulted.
The transfer to receive medical care does not allow, by itself, the length of time he will remain in the center to be determined or whether he will need to be admitted. Nor has it been specified in the information consulted which hospital treated him.
The driver was in the freight locomotive that received the impact. The vehicles involved described by the first news reports correspond to rail freight transport.
Adif rules out impacts on traffic
Despite the collision and the displacement of the railcars, Adif maintains that the accident has not affected rail traffic. The information available does not record suspensions of passenger services nor an alternative transport plan associated with this incident.
The first communications focus on the situation of the driver and on the continuity of traffic. They do not include an economic assessment of the damage nor detail the operations necessary to remove or recover the affected rolling stock.
It remains to be clarified the time of the accident, the exact point within the railway premises where it occurred, and the circumstances under which the railcars began to move. The sources consulted also do not specify the distance traveled or the speed at which they struck the locomotive.