Four Americans among 69 dead in high-speed train collision in central Spain
A high-speed train crash in Urda, Spain, on Oct. 28 killed at least 69 people, including four U.S. citizens, and injured 58 others.
Four United States citizens were among at least 69 fatalities after a high-speed train struck the rear of a stopped train in Urda, province of Toledo, on the morning of Oct. 28. The collision derailed two cars and left 58 people injured. The two trains, carrying more than 540 passengers, were traveling from Madrid to Seville on the same line.
Spain's Center for Integrated Data, the authority responsible for identifying victims of mass-casualty events, reported that the death toll also includes one citizen each from Canada, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Tunisia and the Czech Republic, as well as a French and a Portuguese national. Two Australian citizens and a Japanese citizen remain missing. The agency said that all but three victims have been identified and that families are expected to travel to Spain for in-person identification.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente indicated that a traffic controller's decision contributed to the accident, while railway unions have highlighted concerns about staffing levels and workload pressures on controllers. Independent investigators found that the state-owned RENFE train was traveling between 100 and 125 mph when it collided with the privately owned IRYO train.
The crash marks the second major incident on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line this year; a January derailment further south on the same route resulted in 46 deaths and remains under investigation. Spain's high-speed rail network, the world's second-largest, had not recorded a fatal accident since it began service over three decades ago.