At least 68 people were killed and more than 60 others injured on Wednesday, October 28, when two high-speed trains collided near the town of Urda, in the province of Toledo, roughly an hour south of Madrid. The crash involved a train operated by Renfe, Spain’s state-owned rail company, and another run by Iryo, a private high-speed operator that competes on the same routes.
Spanish authorities have since released audio recordings of communications between the rail traffic control center and train operators in the moments leading up to the collision. According to early findings, the disaster may have been caused by an erroneous instruction issued from the control center—an order that investigators believe sent one of the trains onto a track already occupied by the other.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene to treat the injured and recover victims, in what has become one of the deadliest rail accidents in recent Spanish history. This marks the second major train accident in Spain so far this year, raising fresh questions about safety protocols on the country’s high-speed rail network, which is among the most extensive in Europe.
Investigators are continuing to review the recordings and signaling data to determine exactly how the mistaken order was given and why it went uncorrected before the trains collided.
For the full story and additional details, read the original report at eltiempo.com.
Source: Revelan audios entre centro de control y operarios antes del choque de trenes en España que dejó 68 muertos: el error que habría causado el accidente (eltiempo.com).
Image: Mississippi Department of Archives and History.