Recording of railway traffic controllers' conversation before disaster emerges: "Decision is incomprehensible"

Rescue workers worked through the night under powerful floodlights, cutting through the metal structures of train carriages in search of victims. Many of the victims have yet to be identified.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, in which a high-speed train operating on the Madrid–Seville line collided with a train that was stationary on the tracks.

All of Spain is in mourning

“All of Spain is mourning,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, adding that “lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, and the pain is immeasurable.”

Spain’s Ministry of the Interior said that hundreds of emergency responders had been dispatched to the scene to assist with rescue efforts. Drones and helicopters are also being used to search the area and clear away the wreckage.

Spain’s Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, explained that the stationary train, operated by private company Iryo and carrying 147 passengers, had become stranded on the tracks due to a computer system failure.

Dispatchers made an incomprehensible decision

Puente stated that, in the event of a system failure, the control centre in Madrid, which operates around the clock, takes over control. However, according to the minister, the centre made an “incomprehensible” decision and instructed the trains to resume moving without imposing any speed restrictions.

Audio recordings of conversations between traffic controllers in Madrid and the train driver show that the high-speed train was given the green light to proceed, even though the train ahead had broken down and was standing still on the tracks.

Iryo announced that its train had struck a train operated by Spain’s state-owned railway company, Renfe, from behind. The Renfe train was carrying 397 passengers. The force of the impact sent several carriages tumbling down an embankment.

Passengers trapped in their seats as a carriage catches fire

Witnesses described scenes of people crying and bleeding, passengers trapped in their seats, and thick smoke spreading through the carriages, one of which caught fire.

Prime Minister Sánchez said it was “unacceptable” that Spain had suffered two serious railway accidents this year, citing the high-speed train crash near Córdoba in January, which claimed 46 lives. That accident occurred on the same railway line, but much farther south.

Most political parties suspended their election campaigns immediately after the accident.

The worst railway disaster since 2013

In Toledo, near the site of the accident, local residents gathered for a vigil and observed a minute of silence to pay tribute to the victims.

European Union flags were flown at half-mast at the buildings of European institutions in Brussels, which the European Commission described as a gesture of European solidarity during Spain’s national mourning period.

Wednesday’s accident is the deadliest railway disaster in Spain since 2013, when 80 people were killed near Santiago de Compostela in the country’s northwest.