Death toll rises and questions mount over what caused Spain's deadly high-speed train crash
Wrecked carriages thrown down an embankment near Urda, Toledo, after controllers directed a Renfe train to resume at full speed into a stationary Iryo service carrying 147 passengers.Smoke rises from derailed carriages between Los Yébenes and Urda after the crash, which emergency crews feared could surpass the Adamuz disaster, where 46 people died in January.Mangled wreckage on its side after two high-speed trains collided in Toledo province, Spain, killing at least 39 people and leaving survivors scrambling clear while passengers remained trapped.The derailed train near Urda, Toledo, where a computer failure prompted controllers to direct a Renfe service to resume at full speed — a decision Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente said left operators with "more…
Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente called the control centre's decision to restart the Renfe train "inexplicable," blaming operators who allowed it to move at full speed into the path of the stationary Iryo train at 8.53am on Wednesday near Urda, 100 miles south of Madrid. Fifteen patients remain in intensive care. The crash is the second this year involving the same two rail operators, after 46 died in January.
Former employment minister Fátima Báñez and 24-year-old athlete Julieta Gallego are among the named victims.
Audio recordings reveal controllers in Madrid cleared the Renfe driver to proceed at normal speed even though the Iryo train was stationary 25km ahead.
Urda pharmacist Antonio Garcia, 78, was among the first on scene: 'One passenger was calmly asking for an ambulance — while another said his last words.'
