Four carriages overturned in the smash early today, smoke billowing from the wreckage, as bodies were lain out under blankets along the tracks. The wagons piled into each other and folded up like an accordion. One was ripped apart by the force of the crash, one of its ends pushed up into the air.u00a0

Several witnesses spoke of a loud explosion. "I was at home and I heard something like a clap of thunder, It was very loud and there was lots of smoke," said 62-year-old Maria Teresa Ramos, who lived just metres from where the accident happened.