Barcelona train crash: At least one dead and dozens injured as landslide causes derailment in Spain

More than 130 people were on board the commuter service

Train north of Barcelona derails after being struck by landslide (Twitter/Bombers)

Firefighters were forced to free passengers trapped in wreckage after a landslide caused a deadly train crash in Spain.

At least one person was killed and 44 others, including the driver, were hurt when the commuter service heading for Barcelona came off the tracks at 6.15am this morning.

The regional civil protection agency said two of the train’s six carriages were derailed near Vacarisses, around 30 miles northwest of the Catalonian city.

A spokesperson for the Spanish railway operator told local media heavy rain in the area over the past few days could have caused the landslide.

Firefighters and emergency workers evacuated 131 commuters and sent to hospital 11 of the 44 people injured. Three of them are seriously hurt, according to the civil protection agency.

“For travellers evacuated who have not been injured, buses have been sent so they can continue their journey,” tweeted an official Catalonian government account.

Two temporary centres in Barcelona and the town of Manresa have been set up to assist concerned relatives.

Recent downpours have battered Spain. A woman died on Sunday after a river flooded its banks in the northwestern Galicia region. On Monday, huge waves swept away the balconies of a sea-side apartment building on the Canary island of Tenerife.

The heavy rains have also caused travel disruption and damage to farmland across the country.

Additional reporting by agencies