A forest fire engulfed a train in Spain, passengers broke windows to escape
A forest fire engulfed a train in Spain, near Castellon in the northeast of the country. As many as 20 passengers suffered burns, three of them seriously, after jumping from the train caught in fire, writes the Guardian.
The driver, who was driving the train from Sagunto in the eastern province of Valencia to Zaragoza, stopped the train when he saw that the fire made it too dangerous to continue.
After stopping, he prepared to reverse the train.
But a large number of passengers, fearing that the train will catch fire, broke the windows and fled in panic. Two passengers with severe burns were evacuated by helicopter.
The others, including a 10-year-old girl, were transferred to nearby hospitals. According to the emergency services, a 58-year-old woman is among the passengers who suffered the most severe burns after escaping from the train.
- When they saw that they were surrounded by fire, they returned to the train and several of them suffered burns, said the spokesperson of the Spanish railway company Renfe.
Ximo Puig, the president of Valencia, said more than 1.000 people had been evacuated from their homes due to strong winds fanning the fire in Beijs, Valencia. He added that two firefighters suffered burns.
Valencia is the latest Spanish region to battle serious wildfires during Spain's prolonged heatwave. The fires led to the destruction of tens of thousands of hectares of forest.