Skip to main content

‘Miracle’ 6-year-old girl is the only member of her family to survive Spanish train wreck

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The roar was deafening inside the train car as it hurtled off the tracks, then slid down a steep slope, ripping open its frame. And then, amid the twisted metal of the wreckage, the cries of the injured and the silence of the dead.

Surrounded by bodies after the train accident in southern Spain, one little girl somehow emerged virtually unscathed.

Newspaper La Vanguardia reported that a Civil Guard officer found her barefoot on the tracks after she escaped through a broken window.

Relative Juan Barroso told reporters the 6-year-old is in good health after receiving three stitches in her head at a hospital. The mayor of her family’s village said he was finding a measure of solace in the fact this girl was out of harm’s way.

“There are many people who are very sad for the victims of this terrible accident, but there were also many who survived, like the miracle of the girl who is safe,” Punta Umbria’s Mayor José Carlos Hernández told reporters Tuesday after leading a minute of silence for the victims.

Among them were the girl’s parents, brother and a cousin. At least 42 people were killed in the brutal accident that has shaken the nation and left the 6-year-old child an orphan.

Her family’s last names are Zamorano Álvarez, the town hall said. but The Associated Press is not disclosing her first name.

Punta Umbria has declared three days of mourning for victims including the Zamorano Álvarez family. They were seated in the front carriages that bore the brunt of the impact when a train coming the opposite direction suddenly jumped its track for reasons still unknown.

Mayor Hernández said that the girl is now with her grandparents in a hotel in Cordoba, the nearest city to the crash.

“She has a tremendous family who will do what it takes for her to have a happy life,” the mayor said.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
Read Next Story