Spanish minister blames 'inexplicable' control centre order after high-speed train ploughed into stalled one, killing at least 68
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 told reporters that a computer failure at 08:30 on Wednesday brought six high-speed trains to a halt, after which control centre staff issued an "inexplicable" instruction allowing them to proceed without speed restrictions — causing a Renfe service to collide with the stationary Iryo train at up to 185mph near Urda, 100 miles south of Madrid. The death toll of at least 68 is expected to rise as emergency crews work through the night cutting open wrecked carriages, and the Civil Guard has established DNA identification centres in Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Seville to assist in identifying victims.
It is Spain's second deadly high-speed crash this year — a January collision on the same route killed 46.
Puente, facing calls to resign, said: 'At this moment, I am thinking about clarifying this, not about myself.'
A 78-year-old Urda pharmacist, Antonio Garcia, was among the first on scene; he heard a passenger saying his final goodbyes — 'his last words were "God is good".'
