Sunday, August 25, 2024, 20:03 | Updated 11:01 pm
Comment
copy Link
WhatsApp
Facebook
X (formerly Twitter)
Linkedin
Telegram
Threads
This Sunday, a young man climbed onto the catenary in the Valencia municipality, near the towns of Alfafar and Sedaví, and his invasion of the tracks caused a disruption of railway traffic in medium and long distance Cercanías for almost three hours, with 40 trains affected and at least 1,500 passengers trapped. In the end he climbed down on his own. Happy ending, although he was arrested by the Civil Guard and taken to a hospital to check if he was affected by mental illness or substance abuse. The story he told was by no means pleasant: he claimed that he had no family and that he did not see any other solution, although other sources indicated that he was looking to take a train to Barcelona.
.jpg)
It all started around 6:30 pm, when several train drivers noticed a man on the tracks. His presence caused a half-hour delay on the AVE between Gijón and Vinaro. The man ran south from the North Station. At 7:08 pm he was seen at Sedavi and at 7:12 pm he climbed onto the catenary. At 7:22 pm traffic stops completely, when the electricity is also cut off. The man sat on the catenary gantry for two hours, at the same time 40 trains (7 long distance, 3 medium distance and 30 Cercania) were stopped at various stations and chaos ensued at the North Station.
Meanwhile, on the side of the street, the mayor of Sedawy, José Cabanes, picked up the phone with the aim of facilitating mediation. He called an acquaintance from the municipality who, due to his Moroccan origin, would be able to communicate in Arabic with the protagonist of the event of Algerian nationality. And that is what happened.
Neighbor Sadre, requested by the mayor, immediately agreed and came to the train tracks to assist. From below, he tried to reason with the man for more than two and a half hours. A dialogue full of confusion and twists and turns that finally had its effect. During the whole process, the man threatened several times to jump from the top of the tower and threw stones at the people gathered on the tracks. Members of the local police, civil guard and fire brigade were present. They asked the emergency services to leave the scene. Tensions were high and the curious gathered around. Many of them chose to watch the scene from the shoulders of the nearest bridge.
The incident caused two trains to stop a few meters apart. Eventually, after a long afternoon and difficult mediation work, the man agreed to get down. He did it on his own. And as soon as he got down, he was detained by several Civil Guard agents, who later arrested him. “He said his mother had died, his father and a brother had also died and his sister was in another country,” Sadre said. The mayor indicated that the man would undergo a medical examination.
Comment
report a bug