A train derailment in north-western Spain has killed at least 77 people and injured more than 100 late Wednesday evening.

The BBC quotes officials in the Galicia region in saying that all eight carriages of the train, which was travelling from Madrid to Ferrol, came off the tracks near the city of Santiago de Compostela.

There are fears that the dead toll could rise as rescue workers continue to search for survivors. The rescue effort in the train wreckage went on through the entire night.

This is the worst rail accident in Spain in four decades.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, convened an emergency ministerial meeting Wednesday evening. He is due to visit the scene of the accident on Thursday.

Rescue workers have so far recovered 73 bodies from the accident site, while four more people died in hospital, a spokeswoman for Galicia's Supreme Court said Thursday morning. The BBC reminds that judges are responsible for registering deaths in Spain.

Government officials said they believed the crash was an accident, and have ruled out sabotage or attack, but the official statement on the cause will come only after a thorough investigation.

Witnesses have said that the train was travelling very fast before it derailed and its cars "piled on top of one another" after it hit a curve. Local authorities have reported that the rain was traveling with a speed twice higher than the allowed one.

238 passengers were on the train.

More than 140 passengers are receiving treatment Thursday morning. Local residents flocked to hospitals in the area to donate blood in response to an appeal.

320 Spanish police officers have been deployed to help out the rescue operation.