Train kills 12 crossing tracks to Spanish festival

Twelve people were killed when a high-speed train slammed into them as they tried to cross a railway line to get to a festival on a beach near Barcelona late on Wednesday.

Thirteen others were injured in the accident at about 11:30 pm local time as a group of mostly young people headed for the annual Saint John's Day celebration at the town of Castelldefels, the Catalan government said.

Emergency services found dismembered bodies scattered at the scene, a short distance from the Castelldefels beach.

One youth told SER radio the revellers had just got off a train: "At that moment a train came from the other direction and ran everyone over," said the youth, who gave his name only as Fernando.

"The accident has taken 12 lives and there's 13 injured, three in critical condition. I wish them a quick recovery," said Joan Saura, the Catalan regional government's interior minister.

Dozens of people had been trying to cross the track at an unauthorised point instead of using an overpass on the line between Barcelona and Alicante, the mayor of Castelldefels said.