Developing: Leaked audio puts Spain's rail control room under scrutiny after 69 deaths
At least 70 people are reported missing, and Pedro Sánchez says people of up to 27 nationalities may be among the dead or injured. Leaked railway communications have raised questions about why a train was allowed to proceed towards another that remained stopped.
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by Sami Haddad
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Spain's high-speed rail crash has killed 69 people, authorities confirmed by October 30, as leaked recordings raised questions about instructions given before the collision.
At least 70 people were reported missing, while 39 remained in hospital. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said people of up to 27 nationalities may be among those killed or injured, giving the identification effort an international reach.
The collision happened on October 28 near Urda, in Toledo province, on the Madrid-Seville line. A Renfe high-speed train carrying 397 passengers struck a stationary Iryo train carrying 147. Judicial and technical investigations are examining the decisions, systems and communications that preceded the impact.
The leaked recordings appear to show a control-centre operator authorising the Renfe driver to continue at normal speed after a signalling failure, while the Iryo driver separately reported that the train ahead remained stopped, according to the BBC and Euronews. Transport Minister Óscar Puente described the decision to allow trains to move again without speed restrictions as "inexplicable", the BBC reported.
Spanish media also reported that the control-centre operator who cleared the Renfe train to resume its journey declined to be interviewed by the Civil Guard, according to The Guardian. The recordings and the account of that refusal have not been independently confirmed, and neither establishes responsibility. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The Daily Inference reported on October 28 that Spain's transport minister said the Renfe train had been authorised to restart despite a red signal. The newly reported exchanges put the instructions and the control centre's knowledge of the stopped train at the centre of scrutiny.
