‘Horror train crash will not halt my pilgrimage’

The terrible train crash which cost the lives of at least 78 people in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, has not derailed the spirit of one Maltese woman who plans to walk the pilgrimage route in aid of Puttinu Cares. On Wednesday evening, all eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train derailed as it hurtled round a curve in what has been described as Spain’s deadliest train accident in four decades. Eyewitness accounts backed by security-camera footage suggest that the train carrying 218 passengers was going too fast as it tried to turn left underneath a road bridge. A further 130 people were injured, some of whom seriously. A spokesman from the Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed there were no Maltese among the casualties. Heidi Schembri, together with her Welsh friend Ray Shepherd, will be leaving for Spain on August 27 to walk 150 kilometres from O Cebreiro to Santiago de Compostela. Their flight will land in Madrid, where the pair will take an eight-hour train trip to Lugo, a city in northwestern Spain. They will then board a coach to O Cebreiro. “I was extremely shocked at seeing the footage of the train flying off the track,” the 32-year-old told Times of Malta. “I’m very...