The Bejís forest fire (Castellón) GVA 112

Three seriously injured after jumping from a train halted by forest fire

Some passengers broke windows to escape the train, but ended up falling directly into the fire, according to Spain’s railway infrastructure company Adif

A. SERRANO

Valencia

Wednesday, 17 August 2022 | Updated 19/08/2022 17:35h.

At least twenty people were injured, three seriously, following an incident on a train passing through Torás (Castellón). According to sources at Spain’s railway infrastructure company Adif, a train that was running between Valencia and Zaragoza stopped due to the proximity of the Bejís forest fire. It was at this time that some passengers broke the windows to escape the fire, but fell directly into the fire, according to Adif.

The two most seriously injured are a 58-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl who both suffered severe burns. Some passengers are reported to have suffered fractures and other, more minor, injuries.

The president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, said that, apparently, what happened was "a gust of wind caused the fire to reach the track."

"From that moment on there have been different versions about what happened that it is not for me to analyse," adding that train operator Renfe "will give the appropriate explanations of what has happened."

Varios heridos cuando un tren ha quedado atrapado en el #IFBejís.

Los heridos están siendo atendidos en la estación de #Caudiel están siendo por efectivos de @GVAsanitat, @CruzRojaCS y @UMEgob pic.twitter.com/7XGoFKdgze
NoMePisesLaManguera (@PlinioElGuapo) August 16, 2022

In any case, Puig insisted that his greatest concern is for the people who have been injured and wished them "a speedy recovery."

The Government’s delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, said that the train driver decided to return to Caudiel, when the train arrived at Torás (one of the municipalities evacuated on Tuesday due to the Bejís forest fire), seeing that ashes were falling from the sky.

And it was during this return manoeuvre that a group of passengers "opened the doors and got out, when these problems occurred," added the delegate, who said that the train finally arrived at Caudiel station with “no problem”.