Spain train crash: 69 dead as inquiry focuses on controllers' order to restart at full speed

Spain's worst rail disaster in decades has killed 69 people, officials said after revising an earlier count of 74, as investigators focus on why controllers allowed a high-speed train to move again at full speed towards a stationary train on the same line.

The collision happened on Wednesday morning, October 28, near the village of Urda in Toledo province, about 130 km south of Madrid. A train run by the state operator Renfe ran into the back of a train belonging to the private company Iryo, derailing two coaches that fell down an embankment.

What happened

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a computer failure had stopped the safety system on a 63 km stretch of the line, halting the trains on it, RTÉ and ABC News reported. "In the event of a system failure, the control center takes over," Puente said. According to him, the central command then told the Renfe train, about 25 km behind the Iryo service, to restart without any speed restriction, even though a stop signal was still active. He called the order "inexplicable" and said the train drivers were not to blame.

Investigators estimate the Renfe train was travelling at 160-200 km/h, pending analysis of its onboard recorders, IBTimes reported. The Iryo train, running from Madrid to Seville, was carrying 146 people and the Renfe train 397, according to the transport ministry.

Reports differ on the exact time of the collision, given as about 8.30 am or 8.53 am local time.

The death toll

The Interior Ministry said on Thursday that six more bodies had been found overnight, taking the toll to 74, but the Transport Ministry and the railway accident investigation commission later revised it to 69, ABC News and Euronews reported. No explanation for the change has been given. Regional president Emiliano García-Page said 24 of the dead were found on the Renfe train and the rest on the Iryo train.

Toledo's hospital was treating 15 patients in intensive care on Thursday, Euronews reported. Spain's foreign ministry said 42 foreign nationals from seven countries were on board, one of whom died. Among the dead was Fátima Báñez, a former labour minister. The Civil Guard has opened offices in Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Seville for relatives to give DNA samples to help identify victims.

Reactions

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site, promised an investigation and said, "It is clear that we need to reinforce the safety of our train service." The government declared three days of national mourning from Thursday to Saturday, and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited injured passengers in Toledo.

Train drivers went ahead with a planned strike on Thursday to demand more investment in safety. "We cannot tolerate, under any circumstances, this type of incident happening again," said Diego Martín of the drivers' union SEMAF. García-Page said it was for the independent railway accident investigation commission, not the ministry, to establish the cause.

Background and what happens next

It is Spain's second deadly high-speed crash this year: in January, 46 people were killed near Adamuz in Córdoba province when trains of the same two operators collided. The Urda crash comes ahead of a snap general election on November 29, and the main parties have suspended campaign events.

The railway accident investigation commission (CIAF) has opened an inquiry. A Toledo judge has imposed a 2 km exclusion zone around the site while the search and investigation continue.