Train crash (archive)
Train crash (archive)AFP photo

At least 77 passengers are dead and more than 100 others are injured after a high speed train jumped the track in northwestern Spain overnight.

Spain's El Pais has released CCTV footage of the moments of the crash. The train driver has admitted to traveling above the speed limit.

There is no word yet on whether there were any Israelis involved in the tragedy.

“The embassy is located in Madrid,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Arutz Sheva on Thursday. “It is at least 500 miles away, and there are no Jewish communities in the area. There were more than 200 passengers, and getting access to their passports will take time. It is unlikely we will have information for a while.”

The crash occurred on the eve of a local Christian festival at about 8:42 p.m. local time, about two miles from Santiago de Compostela in the Galician region, according to Renfe, the state-owned railway.

All 13 cars derailed, and four completely overturned, with at least one car in pieces, and a second in flames.     

Due to the fact that the area is one that is unique to Christian pilgrimage, and remote from other areas, it is unlikely that there were many Israelis in the region, if any, Palmor said, but added, "You can never tell."