Train collision in Spain kills at least 68
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Le Monde, Vanguard and Real Equatorial Guinea
A collision between two trains near Urda, on the Madrid-Andalusia line, has killed at least 68 people, according to Le Monde, Vanguard and Real Equatorial Guinea. Vanguard reports more than 100 injured, while Real Equatorial Guinea says 77 are in hospital, including 15 in a very serious condition. The Spanish government has declared three days of national mourning; the trains were carrying 397 Renfe passengers and 147 Iryo passengers, according to the spokesperson for the regional government of Castile-La Mancha.
Real Equatorial Guinea reports that 77 injured people were in hospital, including 15 in a very serious condition. This figure differs from the more than 100 injured reported by Vanguard. The president of the regional government of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, confirmed the death toll of 68, according to Real Equatorial Guinea.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente described the accident as “absolutely implausible” and said that a failure in the LZB safety system had occurred before the trains were allowed to resume their journeys without the problem being resolved, according to Real Equatorial Guinea. Vanguard reports that six trains, including those involved in the crash, had been stopped by a computer failure, then allowed to resume without a speed limit. Government sources cited by El País favour the theory of human error when the signalling system was switched to manual mode, according to Vanguard.
The Guardia Civil and the Railway Accident Investigation Commission have questioned the operator of the control centre that regulated the Madrid-Seville line, as well as other people who were at the centre, according to Real Equatorial Guinea. At the scene of the accident, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised that the investigation would be thorough and that any negligence would be exposed. He said it was unacceptable for Spain to have two serious accidents on a high-speed line in less than a year. People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for the country to find out what was happening with its infrastructure, the outlet reports.
Vanguard says a teenage passenger described scenes of chaos, screams and people trapped in the wreckage to Cadena SER. Renfe has suspended services between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia, and several political leaders have paused their campaigns for the elections scheduled for 29 November. According to Vanguard, this is Spain’s third rail accident of the year, following a derailment in Adamuz in January and an accident near Gelida, north of Barcelona.
