Spain has begun three days of national mourning after 69 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a high-speed train crash, the third deadliest of the year on the country’s rail network.
The fatal accident occurred on Wednesday after a train plowed into a train on the high-speed railway linking Madrid and Seville near the town of Urda, in the province of Toledo. Authorities say the incident was caused by both a computer system failure and apparent human error.
One of the trains operated by the Spanish national railway company Renfe collided with a stopped train operated by the private company Illyou when a problem with the LZB train management safety system disrupted all rail traffic in the area.
The incident follows a major crash in January that killed more than 40 people in the province of Cordoba, and another that killed a train driver near Barcelona.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced an official period of mourning from Thursday to Saturday. “All of Spain is in mourning,” he said from the scene of the accident, as emergency work continued.
Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said a computer system failure caused problems with safety systems along the 63-kilometer (40-mile) track, causing all trains in the area to come to an automatic stop.
At that point, ADIF, the state-owned company that manages Spain’s railways, took over manual control of the system and a decision was made to allow high-speed Renfe trains to continue southbound along the tracks despite the red light.
Renfe’s train was allowed to run without speed limits due to an erroneous command from the train controller. As a result, the train resumed traveling at approximately 124 mph between 8:36 a.m. and 8:52 a.m. local time, Puente said, and eventually collided with the stopped Italian train.
“There was a red light prohibiting the train from proceeding, but the train was allowed to proceed,” the transport minister said at a press conference on Wednesday. “It was a decision made under mysterious circumstances.”
Following Puente’s comments, the Spanish trade union CSIF called on the transport minister to resign, saying: “We call on the government to respect the investigation and the presumption of innocence of ADIF’s transport chief.” CNN has contacted Spain’s Ministry of Transport for comment.
Audio recordings published in Spanish media reveal conversations between the train driver and air traffic controllers shortly before the collision. Records show that the Renfe train was given permission to run and that controllers were instructed to continue in “normal operation.”
In another recording, the driver of the Iyo train involved in the accident was also instructed to return to “normal operation.” After a few minutes, the driver reported that he was unable to restart the train and that it was currently not moving.
The collision occurred while the Renfe train was traveling at speeds estimated to be between 160 km/h (about 100 mph) and 200 km/h (about 124 mph), according to AITAT, the independent agency responsible for investigating the accident.
On Thursday, AITAT said its investigation team had not yet spoken to those directly involved in the accident, including the train driver and rail traffic controllers, as they were “not currently available for questioning.”
Passengers told CNN that the moments of Wednesday’s crash were “very chaotic” and passengers were immediately thrown from their seats and piled on top of each other inside the car.
One surviving passenger said three cars in particular on the train were in “terrible condition”.
“There was a fire on one plane, and on the other there were people trapped and crying,” said a passenger, who declined to give his name. “And in the main locations (affected), people were buried under the rubble.”
Of those killed, 24 were on the Renfe train traveling from Madrid to Seville, and 44 were on the Italian train, also traveling between Madrid and Seville.
According to the latest information from the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, there were a total of 151 passengers on board the Illo and 393 on board the Renfe.
According to local government updates Thursday morning, 60 of the 110 injured people taken to hospitals have been released.
Puente added that the incident will be thoroughly investigated.
“If there is any negligence, it will be brought to light. And if there are any deficiencies in the safety systems, we will deal with them with the utmost decisiveness,” Sanchez said.
At this stage, little is known about the identity of the victims. Identification efforts continued at the crash site as emergency crews continued to search for the wrecked vehicle, with rescue workers and cranes working through the night under floodlights.
Spain’s Civil Guard announced that it has opened four offices in Spanish cities to quickly identify accident victims. The Civil Guard said the family’s DNA is being collected to assist in this process. The military confirmed to CNN that 67 missing person reports have been filed following the accident.
Rosario’s mother told CNN she provided a DNA sample to help find her missing 32-year-old son, Francisco Jose, who was on the train. Rosario said her son also tried to ride one of the trains involved in the Adams accident in January, but ultimately decided to buy a ticket for a later ride.
The Civil Guard said one of its staff members lost their lives in Wednesday’s crash. Police named the victim as Jose Manuel and said they extend their “deepest condolences” to his family, friends and colleagues. Former Spanish minister Fatima Báñez was also killed, her People’s Party (PP) confirmed on Thursday.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said more than 500 emergency workers were sent to assist in rescue efforts after the crash, as well as at least three helicopters and several drones.
Authorities removed the passengers, who were not seriously injured, from the scene by bus. According to a CNN producer at the scene, the evacuated passengers included citizens of several nationalities, including Spain and Brazil. The U.S. State Department said “several” Americans were injured in the train collision.
Forty-two foreign nationals from seven countries were involved in the crash, with at least one killed and seven injured, Reuters reported, citing Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sanchez told reporters from the crash site Thursday morning that emergency teams were focused on recovering the bodies of those killed in the crash so they could be identified.
Sanchez said the Spanish government would provide compensation to the families of the victims at a later stage.
Spain’s Prime Minister vows to investigate the truth behind the deadly train accident
“It is clear that in the same year we have suffered two terrible tragedies related to high-speed rail,” Sánchez said on Wednesday, acknowledging another major accident in the province of Cordoba in January that killed more than 40 people.
Wednesday’s accident occurred along the same high-speed rail route between Madrid and Seville, about 130 miles from the site of January’s train crash near the town of Adams.
However, the cause of the train accident earlier this year was markedly different. According to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, one train derailed due to a damaged track and ran onto an adjacent track.
Before the Adams train accident, Spain’s train drivers’ union SEMAF had raised concerns about high-speed trains causing vibrations and the resulting wear and tear on high-speed rail tracks, a union official told CNN at the time.
Train drivers in Spain went on a pre-planned nationwide strike on Thursday to demand stronger safety measures.
Speaking to reporters during the strike, SEMAF Secretary General Diego Martín called for a “rigorous and independent investigation” into the crash, calling the audio leak from the air traffic control center “alarming, disrespectful and irresponsible.”
The third accident this year near Barcelona occurred just days after the Adams train crash, when a commuter train derailed on a day of heavy rain. According to the Catalan government at the time, the driver was killed and dozens of passengers were injured in the crash.
A series of incidents has raised concerns about Spain’s railway infrastructure, computer systems and its maintenance.
But before this year, European Union statistics showed Spain’s rail safety record was better than many other European countries.
According to a Eurostat report, Spain’s rail accident death toll in 2023 was less than one per million people, the highest recorded number in the EU at the time. Data shows that most railway fatalities in the EU are not caused by passengers or staff dying on trains, but by people entering the tracks without permission.
Wednesday’s fatal crash has sparked fresh criticism of Sanchez, and the fallout from the crash is likely to affect his left-wing government just four weeks before national elections on November 29.
The incident further undermined public confidence in Spain’s rail infrastructure and was another major setback for a government already damaged by recent corruption scandals and the Ceuta mass migration crisis earlier this year.
Protests erupted in Madrid on Wednesday night, with calls for Sanchez and Transport Minister Puente to resign.
Video from the demonstration showed demonstrators holding placards saying things like “Corruption kills” and “Go away!” Along with a photo of Sanchez.
CNN’s Sophie Tanno, Vasco Cotovio, Sol Amaya, Katherine Nichols, Michael Rios, Billy Stockwell, Jacques Guy, Pau Mosquera and Duarte Mendonca contributed to this report.
