Follow-Up: Spain High-Speed Train Crash Toll Rises to 68, Regional Government Confirms; 80 Injured

Spain's Castilla-La Mancha regional government confirmed on October 28 that the death toll from the collision of two high-speed trains near Urda, in Toledo province, that morning had risen to at least 68, with another 80 people injured, 50 of them seriously. Esther Padilla, the regional government's spokesperson, told Spanish state broadcaster TVE that the toll would surely rise further as rescuers continued searching the worst-damaged cars.

The figure is the latest in a series of upward revisions within a single day: the region initially confirmed at least 31 dead in the morning, Civil Protection sources later put the toll at at least 46, regional president Emiliano García-Page confirmed 64 in the afternoon, and the official figure then rose to 68. Health Minister Mónica García said rescue crews were concentrating on the two most heavily damaged cars and that the injured were being taken to hospitals across the area. The regional government has called on the public to donate blood in Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real and Toledo. The passengers aboard the two trains included citizens of several countries, and staff from the US Embassy in Spain were at the site assisting.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente set out the initial findings at a news conference in Madrid: after a computer communications failure in the rail control system issued a red signal that automatically stopped traffic on the line, an erroneous decision was made to allow the state operator RENFE's train to resume its journey despite the active red signal, breaking protocol, and the train then struck the stationary train ahead from behind. The control system failure was reported to have occurred at about 8:30 a.m. near Urda station, halting all services along a roughly 40-mile (about 64 km) stretch of track. Officials stressed that the cause remains under investigation and that the final conclusion rests with that investigation.

The crash happened at about 8:55 a.m. at kilometre point 118 of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. RENFE's AVE service 2080, carrying 397 people, rear-ended IRYO service 6076, which was stopped on the same line carrying 146 passengers and a baby; the two trains were carrying 544 people in total, and two of the IRYO train's cars derailed and fell down an embankment. High-speed services in the corridor between Madrid and Andalusia remain suspended, and the Spanish Football Federation has postponed all 24 Copa del Rey first-round matches scheduled for October 28 as a mark of mourning.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia said they were deeply moved and concerned by the accident, expressed their sorrow to the families of the deceased and sent their support to the emergency teams working at the site. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was shocked and offered his solidarity and support to the victims and their families. The crash is Spain's deadliest rail disaster since the 2013 Santiago de Compostela accident, which killed 80 people, and the second fatal collision this year on the same line between the same two operators: in January, two high-speed trains collided near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, killing 46 people.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 西班牙国营RENFE的AVE列车与私营运营商IRYO的Frecciarossa列车并排停靠在Seville的Santa Justa车站（资料图，非事故列车与现场）。照片：Jon Worth，CC BY 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons。事故现场照片为通讯社图片，本站不使用。

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