‘I held this woman in my arms. She died’: Spain mourns train crash victims

Madrid, Spain – Joaquim Torres, who was travelling connected a bid which crashed into different connected Wednesday, rushed to assistance his chap passengers who had been injured.

Fighting backmost tears, helium told Al Jazeera: “I held this pistillate successful my arms and tried to comfortableness her, but she stopped breathing. She died, she died.”

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One of astir 500 passengers caught successful the deadly crash, Torres had been travelling connected a high-speed bid from the capital, Madrid, to Seville successful the southbound of the country. All seemed normal, until the immense clang conscionable earlier 9am.

At slightest 68 radical were killed and 77 others were injured.

Spain’s nationalist bid relation Renfe has launched an probe into the disaster, which happened successful a agrarian country betwixt Urda and Los Yebenes, 2 tiny towns southbound of Toledo successful cardinal Spain.

But the catastrophe has renewed a nationalist statement implicit whether Spain’s high-speed bid web is safe, 9 months aft different train crash connected the aforesaid enactment successful which 46 radical died and scores were injured astatine Adamuz, adjacent Cordoba successful confederate Spain.

The spouse of a idiosyncratic who was missing is comforted adjacent the tract of the collision [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]

‘Apocalyptic’

Sebastian Herrero, a 46-year-old doc who was connected the train, described the country aft Wednesday’s collision.

“There were 3 bid carriages from which they kept pulling radical retired and covering them with sheets. Bodies. It’s apocalyptic. It’s hard to ideate that anyone could inactive beryllium live successful those 3 carriages. It’s a twisted wide of metal. It’s arsenic if a weaponry had gone off,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Rescuers searched for survivors done the mangled wreckage of 3 carriages astatine the beforehand of the train, which had smashed into a stationary locomotive.

Desperate relatives were waiting astatine Seville bid presumption holding pictures of loved ones who had failed to get successful the confederate city, arsenic Spanish TV presenters, dressed successful black, reported connected the tragedy.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has declared 3 days of nationalist mourning, said: “All of Spain is mourning,” earlier adding that it is “not acceptable for a state similar Spain” to person 2 large bid disasters successful 1 year. A judicial probe is expected to statesman shortly.

Train followed ‘inexplicable’ order

Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the deadly clang happened aft a Renfe bid was authorised to proceed connected its travel – contempt an progressive reddish awesome due to the fact that of a stationary bid connected the enactment ahead, operated by the Italian consortium Iryo.

Puente said the reddish awesome had been issued owed to a machine communications nonaccomplishment which automatically stopped traffic, and an “inexplicable” bid from the cardinal bid centre was fixed for the Renfe bid to determination on. He said bid engineers were not to blame.

Emergency services enactment astatine the tract of the bid clang [Javier Soriano/AFP]

The commercialized national Solidarity, which is linked to Spain’s far-right Vox party, held a objection successful Madrid connected Wednesday nighttime to request Puente’s resignation, and riot constabulary were dispatched.

In the aftermath of the crash, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, person of the absorption blimpish People’s Party, which is favourite to triumph the upcoming wide election, told reporters: “Spain has the close to cognize what is happening with its infrastructure, the information of the tracks and information systems, what warnings were received from Adamuz and measures were taken.

“The Spanish radical person a close to a implicit and autarkic reappraisal of the full obstruction network.”

‘Seats were flying done the air’

Fernando Seco, different rider successful the Renfe bid bound for Seville, said the bid had conscionable resumed its travel pursuing a little halt erstwhile it collided with the different train.

“We felt a brutal crash. People were thrown done the air, seats were flying done the air,” helium told TVE authorities television.

After leaving the wrecked train, helium said helium saw a “carriage divided successful half, with dormant radical trapped inside”.

Once quality of the clang got out, volunteers rushed to the country to connection immoderate assistance they could give.

Jose Maria Rabadan, a nonmigratory of Urda, the closest town, said helium and different volunteers brought food, h2o and blankets and provided transport for those affected by the crash.

“Whatever they inquire of us, we volition bring,” helium told Radio Castilla-La Mancha.

The obstruction mishap is apt to travel arsenic a large stroke to the ruling Socialist Party, conscionable a period earlier the state goes to the polls successful a wide predetermination connected November 29.

The government’s absorption of the Adamuz rail clang successful January was heavy criticised by absorption politicians and raised questions astir the levels of concern successful railway attraction successful caller years.

Rail unions had planned a onslaught for Thursday to protestation astir what they accidental is simply a mediocre information grounds connected the Spanish network.

(Al Jazeera)

The calamity besides comes amid a roar successful the usage of high-speed trains, which has not been accompanied by indispensable concern successful attraction of the high-speed network, according to European Commission data.

The fig of obstruction accidents, including collisions and derailments, roseate from 45 successful 2016 to 57 successful 2024, and surged to 69 successful 2025, according to the Spanish railway information authorization (AESF).

Some 40 cardinal radical utilized the high-speed obstruction trains successful 2024, astir treble the fig for 2019. However, successful the archetypal fractional of this year, astir 25 cardinal travelled connected the high-speed network, a year-on-year autumn of 14 percent.

With cheaper fares compared with galore different developed countries, the high-speed obstruction web has been seen arsenic an accomplishment for Spain successful caller years, with its expertise exported to Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

Between 2018 and 2022, Spain spent an mean of astir $1.67bn each twelvemonth connected high-speed lines, much than different countries with akin networks. However, lone 16 percent of that was spent connected attraction oregon repairs, with the remainder going connected infrastructure, according to EC figures.

People clasp arsenic they hold to get connected a autobus extracurricular a municipal centre, pursuing the collision of a high-speed bid with a stationary 1 betwixt the towns of Mora and Orgaz, successful Urda, Spain, connected October 28, 2026 [Susana Vera/Reuters]

A information risk

By contrast, Italy, Germany and France spent connected mean betwixt 33 and 39 percent of their budgets connected maintenance, adjacent though each state has overmuch smaller networks than the 4,000km (2,485 miles) successful Spain.

Experts accidental the occurrence of the Spanish high-speed web is putting information astatine risk.

“The occupation is that the bid web has go precise fashionable arsenic it is inexpensive and accessible but the authorities person not spent capable connected its attraction successful caller years,” Salvador Garcia-Ayllon, a prof astatine the Universidad Politecnica successful Cartagena, who specialises successful civilian engineering, told Al Jazeera.

Following the Adamuz disaster, a preliminary probe recovered a obstruction fracture was the origin of the crash, but an ongoing probe by constabulary has not been concluded. A judicial probe is present expected.