Europeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 24 September 2016Pedro Sánchez Declares Three Days Of Mourning After Toledo Train Crash Kills At Least 68
17 Western Mainstream7 Other2 Latin American3 Other source typesPhoto: Rubén Ojeda, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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At least 68 people killed in a collision between two high-speed trains near Urda, Toledo. Three days of national mourning declared by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
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Spain mourns after crash
Spain began three days of mourning after at least 68 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a rail disaster in Europe’s modern history. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the “whole of Spain is grieving,” adding that “lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense”. Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente said the crash occurred when a train travelling from Madrid to Seville barrelled into a stationary train after a computer failure, and he described the control centre’s decision as “inexplicable”.
The crash involved a stationary train run by private rail operator Iryo with 147 passengers, and a train run by Spain’s state-owned railway company Renfe carrying 397 passengers, with several carriages falling down an embankment. The European Commission said European Union flags were flying at half-mast in Brussels as a “sign of European solidarity” during Spain’s mourning period.
Command centre and protests
Óscar Puente said the security system failure stopped traffic on a stretch of 63 kilometres, and he said the central command then instructed the trains to move again without any speed restrictions. The BBC reported that audio recordings between train controllers in Madrid and the train drivers appear to show that one high-speed train was given clearance to move even though another up ahead had stalled. Santiago Abascal said Vox would not take part in what he described as attempts to “use mourning to silence criticism” of the country’s rail infrastructure.
Protesters gathered outside Spain’s Transport Ministry building in Madrid, and police used tear gas to disperse crowds after protesters hurled bottles and flares. The Spanish Civil Guard set up bureaus in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Córdoba, and it wrote that “The top priority is the identification of the missing persons and the taking of DNA samples”.
Europe-wide implications
Spain’s rail crash triggered calls for accountability, with the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf) saying a planned strike would be held “in defence of railway safety”. Al Jazeera reported that the regional government head for Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano Garcia-Page, said about 80 people were injured, about 50 of them seriously and 15 critically. The BBC said most political parties suspended campaigning for upcoming elections, while the exception was Vox, whose leader Santiago Abascal framed the mourning as being used to silence criticism.
The BBC said the crash was the worst Spain had seen since 2013, when 80 people died on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Today, Europe mourns with you,” extending condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones.