Driver killed and several injured after train derails near Barcelona, local media report

A train driver has been killed and at least 14 people injured after a commuter train derailed and crashed near Barcelona, local media report.

According to local officials, the Rodalies train collided with a retaining wall which fell onto the track between Gelida and Sant Sadurní on Tuesday evening.

The severity of injuries suffered by passengers is currently being assessed by emergency services.

The incident occurred as heavy storms battered north-eastern Spain.

Eleven ambulances are on the scene in Gelida, Catalonia – around 35km (21.7 miles) west of Barcelona – treating those injured, emergency services said.

The local fire service said 35 crews have been sent to the scene and have had to rescue one passenger trapped inside the train.

Emergency services said it had evacuated some of the injured to nearby Moisès Broggi, Bellvitge, and Vila Franca hospitals.

Many coastal areas in the east and north-west of Spain are on high alert because of the weather. There have also been snowstorms in the Spanish Pyrenees and storms along the coast of Menorca, causing waves several metres high.

The crash in Catalonia comes two days after two high-speed trains collided in Adamuz, Andalusia, in one of the worst Spanish rail accidents in over a decade.

At least 42 people are known to have died after carriages on a Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed over to the opposite tracks and then collided with an oncoming high-speed train.