Gonzalo Sánchez, armed with tools and a quad bike, ferried rescuers and victims after collision near Córdoba
A lottery ticket seller in southern Spain has been hailed as a hero after he spent about six hours ferrying rescuers and victims around on his quad bike after the train collision that killed at least 41 people and injured dozens of others.
Gonzalo Sánchez, 43, was at home in the small town of Adamuz when the town’s WhatsApp group alerted to reports of a train that had derailed nearby.
Sánchez sprang into action, grabbing a few tools and heading to the site in his car. He was among the first to arrive at the scene. “It’s something you hope to never come across in your life,” he told the broadcaster Cadena Ser. “The images are very shocking on television, but it’s worse on the ground.”
He began doing what he could to help, soon learning from passengers that a second train had been involved in the collision. “It was pitch black, and you couldn’t see a thing. Nobody had noticed there were more train cars and people further down,” he told El País.
