The van driver was taken to hospital in a critical condition with a head injury. A 13-year-old girl also suffered a less serious head wound, according to local officials.

Several people amongst the 30 passengers on the three-car train suffered bruises or other slight injuries after it was derailed.

They were treated on the spot and released, but a 76-year-old woman was taken to hospital after suffering a nervous attack.

Bodies strewn on track

Bodies were strewn along a 200-metre stretch of track as the train pushed the van, gradually reducing it to virtually nothing.

The van was completely destroyed

Rescue workers said identifying the bodies would be difficult because many were torn to pieces.

Psychologists have travelled to the accident site to try to help mourning relatives.

According to a local authority spokesman, the van had failed to heed a signal warning that the train's arrival was imminent on the unmanned level crossing at Molino de los Pasuales.

Cause unknown

The rail crossing had no barriers and Lorca's Mayor, Miguel Navarro, said that he had repeatedly complained to the state railway company, RENFE, that the crossing was dangerous and needed barriers.

A spokeswoman for RENFE said the level crossing was properly marked with warning signs and that any train approaching would have been visible to the van driver.

"We don't know how an accident like this could have happened," she said.

Workers fleeing poverty

Ecuadorians fleeing poverty at home make up one of Spain's largest immigrant communities.

In Lorca alone there are up to 9,000 working on farms that grow vegetables such as tomatoes and lettuce, said Lorca town hall spokesman Tomas Guillen.

The Ecuadorian consul in Murcia, Juan Bastidas, has urged local Spaniards to donate money to help repatriate the bodies of those killed in the crash.