What went wrong? Spain train disaster kills 68 and raises safety questions

International

SCREAMS, flying luggage and shattered train windows marked the aftermath of a high-speed rail collision in central Spain that killed at least 68 people and injured dozens more.

The crash occurred shortly after 09:00 (08:00 GMT) on Wednesday, about 140km (87 miles) south of Madrid, between Mora and Orgaz. A train travelling from Madrid to Seville struck another train, sending several carriages down an embankment.

The stationary train, operated by private rail company Iryo, had 147 passengers on board when it stopped because of a computer failure. A 24-hour control centre in Madrid manages such disruptions, but the trains were reportedly instructed to resume movement without speed restrictions, with human error cited as a contributing factor.

The Iryo train was hit from behind by a train operated by state-owned railway company Renfe, which was carrying 397 passengers. One carriage caught fire, while some victims were trapped beneath debris. Photographs from the scene showed a section of railway track piercing through a carriage.

Survivors described scenes of panic as passengers smashed windows to escape and emergency crews rushed to rescue the injured.

Tangui Binier, 22, who was aboard the Iryo train, told the BBC that luggage flew through the carriage and passengers screamed as the train came to a halt. His father helped carry a girl with a broken hip out of the wreckage.

Spanish journalist Antonio Jiménez Barca, who was travelling on the Renfe train, said he was thrown to the ground and found himself covered in blood, with injured passengers piled on top of him.

Another passenger, Sebastián Herrero, told El Mundo newspaper that he saw people with broken noses and arms and was thrown into the air for several seconds during the impact.

Dozens of ambulances responded to the crash, while a helicopter evacuated the most seriously injured. Spain’s Civil Guard said DNA samples from relatives would be needed to identify some victims.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the scene and expressed condolences to affected families.

“The whole of Spain is grieving”, he said in a BBC article.

The disaster is Spain’s deadliest train crash since 2013, when 80 people died in a derailment near Santiago de Compostela. It also follows a separate high-speed rail disaster near Córdoba in January that killed 46 people.

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for answers about railway safety, while trade union CSIF demanded the transport minister’s resignation over the handling of the incident.

Sánchez cancelled public engagements and pledged a full investigation to determine whether negligence contributed to the collision, saying any security failures would be addressed firmly.(MyTVCebu)