Dozens killed in country’s second deadly rail crash this year

URDA (AP):

A high-speed train slammed into another that had stopped on the tracks in Spain Wednesday, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens in the second deadly rail collision this year.

The regional government of Castilla La Mancha confirmed the death toll and said another 58 people were receiving medical treatment at hospitals. Rescue workers searched the wreckage throughout the day for survivors and bodies.

The collision came just nine months after another deadly crash involving high-speed trains operated by the same two companies in southern Spain in January.

“Today, all of Spain is grieving,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said from the crash site, where he announced that his government would declare three days of national mourning.

Sánchez called for increased safety measures to restore confidence in a high-speed rail system that was once a source of national pride.

“It is unacceptable for a country like Spain to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,” said Sánchez, who faces a national election on November 29.

Spain’s rail system operator ADIF said the crash occurred Wednesday morning in the central province of Toledo, involving two high-speed trains carrying hundreds of passengers and heading south in the same direction from Madrid to Seville.

A train operated by the state-owned RENFE company struck the rear of another train operated by private company IRYO that was stopped. The collision derailed two carriages on the tail of the IRYO train and the front of the RENFE train.

Samy Paul, a British tourist, described the shock of the impact to The Associated Press after being rescued from the RENFE train.

“Suddenly, everything started falling apart. Bang! We fell down,” he said. “We realised carriage two, carriage one, all gone, all smashed. There was blood all over.”

David Gómez, a construction worker, was working nearby when he heard the crash and ran to help, he told the newspaper El País.

“People were trying to get out through the windows ... . We cut through some fences to access the area and treated people with the first-aid kits we had brought until emergency services arrived,” he said. “As I was trying to pull a young woman out, there was a piece of a leg.”

Rail service was suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia.

‘Inexplicable’ decision

Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente said that the crash was caused by what he called the “inexplicable” order from a central command centre for Spain’s trains after a security system had failed. He said the train engineers were not to blame.

Puente said that, at 8:30 a.m., the security system on a stretch of 63 kilometres (39 miles) stopped working becasue of a computer malfunction, causing all trains on that stretch to stop. But the central command told the RENFE train to start running again without any speed restrictions, and it ended up colliding with the stopped IRYO train at 8:53 a.m.

Puente said that the train should never have been told to start moving again, since there was still a “stop signal” active on that line. And, if it had, at least it should have been told to go at reduced speed.

Authorities were still studying information to see how fast the train was going, but it could have been at 200 kph (124 mph) for that stretch of the track, Puente said.

“I am not attributing responsibility to anyone, I am just stating the facts,” Puente said.

Everything went flying when the trains collided, a passenger said.

The crash, which occurred in a flat stretch surrounded by olive fields in between the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes, left carriages shredded into bits of metal and other material, scattering debris down a gravel slope.

Passenger Ignacio Relaño was travelling on the RENFE train. He told state broadcaster TVE that the train had stopped momentarily on the line before it started again and then crashed into the IRYO.

“We all felt the train abruptly slowing down and then the impact,” he said. “The car leaned to one side like it was about to tip over. I hit my nose, everything went flying, luggage, cell phones. Everything shook.”

Authorities said 397 passengers were in the RENFE train and 147 passengers in the IRYO train.

Ambulances and medical helicopters made trips to and from the site, while unscathed survivors were put on buses. A military emergency brigade was deployed to help.

Spain’s King Felipe VI also visited the crash site.

“We share in the grief of the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and we send our heartfelt support to the injured and all those affected,” Spain’s royals said in a statement.