This report follows our earlier story on Wednesday's collision near Urda, in which the confirmed death toll rose to at least 68, with 58 people receiving hospital treatment. Read the earlier report
MADRID — The private rail operator Iryo has contradicted the Spanish government's account of Wednesday's high-speed train collision near Urda, telling the newspaper El Mundo that its train driver did not receive an order to resume movement before the crash. The statement raises questions about whether the Iryo train was stationary or moving when it was struck, and about who instructed it to stop.
Source: El Mundo via Zot News
Under the government's account, given by Transport Minister Óscar Puente, the crash followed an 'inexplicable' order from a central control centre after a safety system failed. Puente said that at 8:30 a.m. the LZB safety system failed along a 63-kilometre stretch because of a computer malfunction, automatically bringing around six trains to a halt, and that at 8:36 a.m. the Renfe AVE train was authorised to resume normal running despite a red signal remaining active, before colliding with the stationary Iryo train at about 8:53 a.m. He stressed that the train drivers were not to blame.
Source: Euronews
Minister: the order was corrected — too late
Puente has since given further detail, saying a controller at Adif's Atocha control centre initially authorised trains to resume as normal even though the rules required sight-based running at no more than 40 km/h, and that after a driver on another train questioned the instruction, the controller corrected it — but the AVE involved in the crash had already received the original permission and reached about 200 km/h before the collision, according to his account. Puente ruled out resigning over the disaster and defended Spain's railway system as safe and reliable.
Source: The Spanish Eye
Canadians among the casualties
Six Canadians were hurt and one Canadian was missing, CBC reported, according to the Associated Press report of the crash. The two trains were carrying a combined 544 passengers — 397 on the Renfe service and 147 on the Iryo service — according to the Castilla-La Mancha regional government. All casualty figures remain provisional while rescue and recovery work continues.
Source: Associated Press via Aurax News
The regional government has confirmed at least 68 deaths and said 58 people were receiving hospital treatment, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced three days of national mourning. Spain's rail-accident investigation commission has opened a formal inquiry. This was Spain's second deadly high-speed rail collision this year, after a January crash involving trains from the same two companies killed 46 people.
Source: Associated Press via Aurax News