Spain has experienced its third train incident in a short span, as a commuter train collided with a construction crane, injuring at least four individuals.

This accident occurred around midday near Alumbres, in the Cartagena region of southern Spain.

According to the Regional Ministry of Health, four people sustained minor injuries. Two of these individuals were transported to Santa Lucía Hospital for medical attention.

While the exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, preliminary reports suggest that the FEVE-operated train came into contact with a crane during its route.

Murcia’s mayor, Noelia Arroyo, informed the Spanish newspaper El País, stating, “It appears that as the train moved along, it collided with the crane’s articulated arm, which was extended over the track, resulting in the train grazing it during its passage.”

The service, which had been carrying 16 passengers, did not derail and remains on the tracks as the fire and medical emergency services carry out a rescue operation at the scene. 

It came ​after Sunday’s ‍deadly high-speed ​train collision in the southern Andalusia region that killed at least 43 people and ‍another ‍train accident in northeastern Catalonia on Tuesday, in which the train driver died.

Spanish rail ⁠operator Adif said on X that traffic on that line ⁠was interrupted due to ‘the intrusion into the infrastructure gauge by a crane not belonging ‍to the ⁠railway operation’, without providing further detail.

The midday crash took place near Alumbres, Cartagena, southern Spain, on Thursday

The cause of the collision has not yet been determined, but it is believed the FEVE-operated train struck a crane while on its journey

The crane involved in the collision ‘was working in the area on maintenance tasks unrelated to the infrastructure, invaded the railway clearance, and hit the window of one of the train cars that covers the line between Cartagena and Los Nietos,’ a Murcia government official said. 

Adif has said it is now attempting to gather information to determine why the crane was on that section of track during the time of the incident.

According to La Opinion de Murcia, residents had made repeated complaints about the site of Thursday’s crash, saying it was a ‘dangerous stretch of track’ as ‘it’s not signposted or regulated by traffic lights.’ 

The regional president, Fernando López Miras, has stated that the Murcian government is ‘in constant communication with the emergency and health services that are already mobilised in the area.’ 

Spain’s rail network is already under scrutiny after a commuter train crashed near Barcelona just days after at least 43 people died and 152 were injured in a collision between two high-speed trains.

The second crash took place at around 9.00pm on Tuesday when a retaining wall collapsed onto the track near Gelida in the region of Catalonia in north-east Spain, derailing a local train.

The first carriage, which was carrying most of those who were injured, bore the brunt of the damage. 

A trainee driver, named as 27-year-old Fernando Huerta from Seville, was killed, and 41 people were injured, five of whom are in a critical condition.

It is believed the wall collapsed as a result of the unusually heavy rainfall that Catalonia is experiencing. 

However, as a precaution, the region’s network was shut down pending inspections, stranding hundreds of thousands of people and causing chaos on the roads.

Emergency crews respond after a commuter train derailed when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesaday 

One person – the train driver – died after the smash

Earlier in the day, several people were injured, though none of them seriously, when a train on the Maresme coast north of Barcelona struck a rock on the track.

After a minor delay, the train was able to continue its journey. 

It came just days after the deadly high-speed rail crash that killed 42, which occurred in Adamuz, near the city of Córdoba, at around 6.40pm local time on Sunday.

Sunday’s tragedy saw one train derail and cross over onto another track, with a second ploughing into the wreckage.

The tail end of a train carrying some 300 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails at 7.45pm.

An incoming train, which was travelling from Madrid to Huelva and carrying nearly 200 passengers, slammed into the derailed vehicle.

The second train took the brunt of the impact after the collision knocked its first two carriages off the track and sent them plummeting down a 13ft slope.

Officials said that it appeared the largest number of the deaths occurred in those carriages.

At the moment of the collisions, both trains were travelling at over 120mph, according to the Spanish Transport Ministry.

Both trains were travelling well under the speed limit of 155mph, with one going at 127mph and the other at 130mph, according to the president of Spain’s national state-owned railway company, Alvaro Fernandez.

He also said that ‘human error could be ruled out.’

On Sunday evening, the tail end of a train carrying some 300 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, was derailed

Officials said some passengers were catapulted through windows, with their bodies found hundreds of yards from the crash site

Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited the scene of the accident, where they greeted emergency workers as well as some local residents who helped in the initial stages of the rescue.

Afterwards, they went to the hospital in Cordoba, where many of the injured remain under care.

‘We are all responsible for not looking away when the debris of a catastrophe is being cleared away,’ said Letizia to reporters after the visit.

The incidents sparked an urgent response from Spain’s largest train drivers’ union. 

They have now called for an indefinite strike to demand assurances for the profession’s safety. 

‘We are going to demand criminal liability from those responsible for ensuring safety in the railway infrastructure,’ the Semaf union said in a statement on Wednesday. 

It said it could not accept ‘the constant deterioration of the rail network’ and was calling for ‘urgent new measures’. 

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.