Spain Train Death Toll Rises to 68 as Minister Says Train Was Cleared Past a Red Signal

At least 68 people died when two high-speed trains collided near Urda in central Spain on Wednesday, and rescue workers were still searching the wreckage carriage by carriage, raising the chance that the toll could rise further, according to Reuters. The head of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government put the death toll at 68.

The crash happened at around 9 a.m. local time on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville. A Castilla-La Mancha regional spokesperson said 147 people were on board the Iryo train and 397 on the Renfe service. Two Iryo carriages derailed, and at least three carriages plunged down an embankment, with twisted metal and wreckage strewn below an elevated section of track.

A red signal and a decision to restart

Spain’s transport minister, Oscar Puente, told reporters in Madrid that the crash happened after a Renfe train was authorized to continue its journey despite an active red signal, because a stationary train was on the track ahead. Puente said the red signal was issued because of a computer communications failure, which automatically stopped traffic, and an erroneous decision had been made to restart the Renfe train.

Renfe said in a statement that after being authorized to continue its journey, its train had crashed into the Iryo train that had remained stationary “for reasons we don’t know.” “The Renfe train continued on its way as instructed, and a collision occurred. The exact sequence of events, the traffic conditions and the circumstances of the impact will have to be established by the investigation,” Renfe said.

Spain’s health minister, Monica Garcia, said on social media that the crash had injured 80 people, 15 of them very seriously, according to Reuters. Passenger Rafael Barcelo said he had stepped away from his seat for a coffee before the impact. “We were having breakfast, drinking a coffee when we felt a very strong impact and we were sent flying,” he said.

Second fatal crash this year

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address from near the accident site that “all of Spain” was in mourning, and said the “terrible tragedy” would be investigated. Sanchez vowed to address any failures that came to light, and said the causes of the two crashes appeared to be unrelated. “If we need to further strengthen safety in order to rebuild confidence in our high-speed rail system, we will do so, because what is unacceptable for a country like Spain is to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,” Sanchez said.

The crash is the deadliest in Europe since a 2013 crash in Santiago de Compostela in Spain in which 80 people died, according to Reuters. It follows another fatal crash in January between high-speed trains belonging to the same operators and on the same line, near Adamuz in Cordoba province, in which 46 people died. The causes of that crash are still under investigation, and a preliminary report by Spain’s Civil Guard in February pointed to defects in the track, rail or weld between two sections of track as the main hypothesis, while keeping seven other theories open. Spain’s opposition People’s Party said it had cancelled all campaign events for the day ahead of an election next month.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.