THE Toledo train crash death toll has risen to at least 68, with the transport minister saying a rail control centre let one train restart despite a red signal.
Minister Oscar Puente said the chain of events began at around 8.30am, when the LZB train-protection system failed over a 63km stretch of the Madrid to Andalucia high-speed line near Urda, in Toledo province, automatically stopping the six trains in that section.
The Atocha control centre in Madrid, run by Adif, the state-owned company that manages Spain’s rail network, then authorised a Renfe AVE (the state operator’s high-speed train) to resume normal running at 8.36am, he said.
A red signal was still showing at that point and an Iryo train, run by a private high-speed operator, was stopped ahead at the entrance to Urda station, according to Puente.
Without LZB, the AVE should have moved only ‘on sight’, meaning at no more than 40km/h so the driver could stop for any obstacle, Puente and Transport Ministry sources said.
Instead it covered 25km in around 17 minutes and hit the Iryo at about 8.54am, at a speed that has not been established on a line where trains can run at up to 200km/h.
Puente called the decision ‘inexplicable’ and described a rear-end collision on the Spanish network as ‘truly implausible’.
“There is no system that can come into operation when the LZB goes down,” he said.
He has not blamed anyone by name, saying only that the controller who gave the authorisation has been identified and is ‘subject to whatever the investigation determines’.
The Guardia Civil has since questioned the Adif operator who gave the order, though it is not clear whether he is being treated as a witness or a suspect.
Castilla-La Mancha president Emiliano Garcia-Page put the toll at 64, with 24 victims on the AVE, 34 recovered from the Iryo and six more presumed dead inside a carriage.
He warned the figure was ‘probably with a tendency to grow even more’, and it has since been reported at 68, with dozens injured and 15 of them in a very serious condition.
The AVE was carrying 397 passengers and the Iryo 147, including a baby, making 544 people on board.
Former employment minister Fatima Banez was travelling on the Iryo and has been reported as among the fatalities.
Disturbingly, the crash happened on the same Madrid to Andalucia line as the Adamuz disaster in Cordoba province on Jan 18, which killed 46 people.
High-speed services between Toledo and Sevilla remain suspended, while Adif said trains were running normally between Madrid and Toledo and between Malaga and Sevilla.
Renfe has opened a free helpline for relatives on 900 10 10 20 and Iryo has one on 900 00 14 03, while Renfe has laid on replacement buses from Atocha to Ciudad Real and Puertollano.
Iberia has capped fares on flights to and from Andalucia at €99 in economy and €149 in business until Nov 8.
How Wednesday unfolded:
8.30am The LZB system fails near Urda and the six trains in the section stop automatically.
8.36am The Atocha control centre authorises the AVE to restart at normal running speed, with a red signal still showing.
About 8.54am The AVE hits the stationary Iryo near Los Yebenes and Urda, at kilometre 118 of the line, and at least two Iryo carriages fall down an embankment.
Around 10am Police sources say there are deaths, while Transport Ministry sources tell Europa Press the AVE may have hit the Iryo from behind. The Castilla-La Mancha government activates its regional emergency plan, with three medical helicopters and two intensive care ambulances deployed, and says it has no confirmed deaths yet.
12.26pm Garcia-Page confirms at least 30 people have died.
1.03pm Ouigo, another high-speed operator, cancels its eight trips between Madrid and Andalucia, and five minutes later the Spanish football federation postpones the 24 Copa del Rey first-round ties planned for the evening.
1.19pm King Felipe cancels his agenda until Thursday.
1.37pm Three investigators from the national rail accident commission (CIAF) arrive at the scene.
1.53pm The Castilla-La Mancha government raises the official toll to 64.
About 2pm Puente gives his first account from the Atocha control centre, saying the human error was made there. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez leaves for Urda at 2.05pm.
Afternoon The Guardia Civil questions the Adif operator, and Sanchez, speaking at the command post, announces three days of official mourning and says that on current information the causes of this crash and of Adamuz are not related.
Sanchez said it was ‘not acceptable for a country like Spain’ to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in one year, adding that ‘if there has been negligence, it will be known’.
Click here to read more Madrid News from The Olive Press.
