Spain train crash death toll rises to 69

URDA, Oct 29: Rescuers picked through mangled carriages on Thursday in a grim search for victims of Spain's second fatal high-speed train crash this year, as the death toll rose to 69 and hopes of finding further survivors faded.

After cranes worked through the night to lift parts of the wreckage of Wednesday's crash, emergency workers were seen carrying what appeared to be a body wrapped in a blanket from one of the trains in the central Spanish province of Toledo. 

Regional leader Emiliano Garcia-Page said the death toll had risen to 69 people and that human remains had been found during overnight rescue efforts. Work now involved crane operations, particularly on a carriage that was still overturned.

"We do not believe there could be any more fatalities beneath that one, but I say this with caution," he said.

Meanwhile, train drivers in Spain went ahead with a previously planned strike to press for more investment in railway safety a day after Europe's deadliest train accident since a 2013 derailment in Spain's Santiago de Compostela.

The crash, which followed another fatal accident in January involving the same rail companies on the same line, has also upended campaigning for a November 29 snap election, with the leaders of Spain's two main parties suspending campaign events.�"REUTERS