Spain has begun three days of national mourning after a high-speed train collision killed 68 people and injured scores of others, prompting renewed concerns about railway safety.
The crash occurred on Wednesday morning in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain, when a train operated by state-owned Renfe slammed into the rear of a stationary train belonging to private operator Iryo.
According to Channels Television, citing AFP, the disaster is one of Europe’s deadliest train accidents this century. Emergency workers continued searching through the wreckage overnight as families desperately sought information about missing relatives.
The Spanish government announced the mourning period on Thursday as rescue and identification efforts continued.
Survivors Describe Scenes of Chaos
Passengers who survived the collision recounted terrifying moments as the trains crashed.
Josimar Medina, a 31-year-old Peruvian tourist travelling in Spain with his girlfriend, said he had been sleeping aboard the Renfe train when the impact threw him into the air.
Another survivor, 42-year-old Pablo Mejia, sustained head injuries. He said a last-minute change of seat had saved his life.
Describing the aftermath, Mejia recounted seeing passengers lying on the floor, seats torn from their fittings and luggage scattered throughout the wreckage.
He said the experience left him feeling as though he had been given another chance at life.
Emergency personnel used cranes to lift mangled metal as they searched the wreckage along the railway line linking Madrid with Seville.
Support for Victims’ Families
Authorities established a support centre at a school in Urda, a village about 130 kilometres south of Madrid, where relatives could seek information about missing loved ones.
Red Cross workers and psychologists provided assistance to distressed families as uncertainty over the identities and whereabouts of passengers continued.
Red Cross psychologist Carmen Garcia warned that relatives faced a difficult period of grief, with reactions ranging from shock and anger to sadness and anxiety.
The Civil Guard also established four offices in Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba and Seville to collect DNA samples from relatives and help identify missing victims.
Blood donation centres were opened across Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid to support the emergency response.
Local religious leaders also joined rescue workers in offering emotional support to affected families.
Transport Minister Raises Safety Concerns
Spain’s Transport Minister, Oscar Puente, raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the collision.
Puente said an automatic control system had failed along a 69-kilometre stretch of railway track, resulting in all trains in the affected area being stopped.
He questioned the decision by the control centre to resume rail traffic despite what he described as inexplicable circumstances.
According to the minister, the Renfe train travelled approximately 25 kilometres before colliding with the stationary Iryo train.
Puente also alleged that the control centre had sufficient time to identify and correct the error but failed to do so.
Investigators are expected to examine the circumstances surrounding the control system failure and the decision to resume train operations.
Second Deadly Rail Collision This Year
The latest disaster comes months after another fatal high-speed train collision in Spain.
In January, two trains collided in the southern region of Andalusia after one derailed and crossed onto an adjacent track, killing 46 people.
The investigation into that accident remains ongoing, while the government’s handling of the country’s railway system has faced criticism.
The latest collision has renewed scrutiny of rail safety and operational procedures as emergency services continue supporting survivors and families of the victims.
The tragedy also comes ahead of an early general election scheduled for November 29, in which Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is seeking to extend his eight-year premiership.
