THE search for a young Huelva girl whose family believed she had survived the Cordoba train crash has ended in tragedy.
Friends and family of Miriam Alberico, 27, last night confirmed their worst nightmare scenario – that she was among the 41 people to have died in the disaster.
Alberico, who had been travelling alone on the Renfe Alvia 2384 service from Madrid to Huelva, was being searched for by her family who still retained hope of finding her alive.
READ MORE: Spain train disaster death toll rises to 41 after body is found in damaged carriage
In an appeal for information on her whereabouts they said that they had heard that she was in hospital undergoing medical tests, including chest and spinal X-rays, but were unable to locate her.
This was understood to be a misunderstanding, however, and her death has since been confirmed.
“Miriam is no longer with us,” said her friend, Eva Mestre Ruiz on social media.
After thanking all who helped to share Alberico’s photo, Mestre Ruiz asked for ‘respect’ as she mourns her loss.
The tragic death is just one case of heartache for dozens of families who have also lost loved ones in the train crash.
Four members out of a family of five who were travelling together have also been confirmed to have died, leaving behind a six-year-old girl as the only survivor.
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Parents Pepe Zamorano and Cristina Alvarez were accompanied on the train by their 12-year-old son, Pepe, their 6-year-old daughter and their nephew Felix.
Both parents and the two boys passed away while the young girl managed to escape and was taken to hospital where she received three stitches to her head.
She was then collected by her grandmother, according to EFE.
The family, from Huelva, had been on an outing to Madrid to watch the Lion King musical and see a match at the Bernabeu stadium – a gift for the children from the Reyes Magos.
Respected journalists, Oscar Toro and Maria Clauss, who had been returning home on the Alvia train, also lost their lives during the collision.
READ MORE: Broken joint found on tracks where Cordoba crash killed 39
Toro had a doctorate in Communication for the University of Huelva and dedicated his career to social communication, university teaching and the defense of human rights.
Clauss, however, worked mainly on photography, receiving the Luis Valtuena Humanitarian Photography Award, acting as creative director of the WofestHuelva festival, and serving as Vice President of Ateneo de Huelva.
Ricardo Chamorro Caliz taught aspiring civil servants in Huelva and was accompanying his students back from an exam in Madrid for a prison service position when he died in the crash.
The 57-year-old prison officer, who was working in Ceuta and had directed an Andalucian prison, had left his seat to get a drink from the cafe when the incident occurred.
He had been sitting in Cabin 4 leaving the area with fellow professor Andres Gallardo Vaz and one of their students ‘two minutes before’ the accident, according to local media.
Gallardo Vaz also died in the accident but no information has been released about the student that went with them to the cafe.
Those that they left behind in their seats sustained minor injuries.
These individuals are some of the 41 whose lives were taken during the Cordoba train crash on Sunday evening.
It is believed that there were just 20 seconds between the derailment and the fatal collision with initial investigations finding a broken rail joint at the point on the tracks where the accident occurred.
Spanish rail operator Renfe described the circumstances as ‘strange’ and says it could take days for the exact cause of the crash to be determined.
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