Madrid Control Center Cited in 68-Death Train Crash in Central Spain
A stationary Iryo train was struck by a Renfe service after a computer failure triggered a manual override that allowed movement without speed limits.
By Lauren Bello ·
At least 68 people died in a high-speed train collision in central Spain on Wednesday morning. The incident occurred just after 09:00 local time, roughly 140 kilometers south of Madrid. It stands as the deadliest rail disaster in Spain in 13 years and one of the worst in modern European history.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente stated that the stationary train, operated by private company Iryo, had halted due to a computer failure. In such events, a 24-hour control center in Madrid assumes command. Puente described the center's decision to clear the train to move again without speed restrictions as "inexplicable." The moving train was operated by state-owned Renfe and carried 397 passengers. The stationary Iryo train carried 147 passengers. The impact sent several carriages down an embankment.
Survivors reported immediate chaos. Salvador Arriza, 62, a passenger on the Renfe train, told Reuters that the force of the crash was "brutal." He noted that passengers smashed windows to escape while others remained trapped among seats. One carriage caught fire, and a long section of railway track pierced through another carriage. Tangui Binier, 22, on the Iryo train, told the BBC that suitcases flew and people screamed as the train stopped. He saw his train "completely flipped over" outside.
Journalist Antonio Jiménez Barca, writing for El País, was heading to the Renfe cafeteria when the impact struck. He said he hit his head and was covered in blood. Passenger Sebastián Herrero, 46, told El Mundo that he felt airborne for four or five seconds. He observed many passengers with broken noses and arms. Dozens of ambulances responded to the scene. A helicopter evacuated the most seriously injured. Spain's Civil Guard indicated that DNA samples from relatives would be required to identify some victims.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site and declared that the whole of Spain was grieving. He called it "unacceptable" for the country to suffer two serious train crashes in a single year. Sánchez promised to establish whether negligence occurred. In January, a high-speed crash near Córdoba on the same rail line killed 46 people. The only deadlier recent accident was in 2013 near Santiago de Compostela, where 80 people died.
Political reactions followed swiftly. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition People's Party, said Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure. The CSIF trade union demanded the transport minister resign. The union accused him of scapegoating a traffic manager by blaming human error rather than taking responsibility. Sánchez and other politicians canceled public engagements on Wednesday, including campaigning for next month's parliamentary elections.
