The process of identifying the 69 people who lost their lives in the collision of two high-speed trains in Spain last Wednesday (October 28) in the Urda region of Toledo, about 150 kilometers south of Madrid. Spanish authorities announced on Monday evening (November 2) that the last three victims had been identified, completing the identification process following the deadly train crash.
According to data from the team of police officers and medical examiners in charge, 54 of the deceased were Spanish nationals and 15 were foreign nationals, while the investigation into the exact circumstances of the collision remains ongoing.
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Which countries were the victims from?
Among the 15 foreign nationals who lost their lives are four Americans, two Australians, and two Japanese.
One fatality each has also been reported from Argentina, France, Canada, Mexico, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Tunisia.
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According to the latest information from the Spanish news agency EFE, the 69 deceased included 40 men and 29 women, all of whom were adults. The families of the victims have been notified that the identification process has been completed, as have the relevant consular authorities for the foreign nationals.
How the collision occurred
The accident occurred when a high-speed train operated by the Spanish public railway company Renfe collided with the rear of a stationary train operated by the private company Iryo, which was on the same tracks.
Iryo is a subsidiary of the Italian state-owned railway group FS, which also owns Trenitalia.
According to information available so far, the Iryo train had been forced to stop due to a malfunction in the signaling control system.
However, the control center allowed the Renfe train to continue on the same track, even though the second train remained stationary.
The reasons for granting this permission have not yet been clarified and are the subject of the investigation into the causes of the accident.
Second Train Tragedy in 2026
The collision near Toledo was the second deadly train accident in Spain since the beginning of the year.
In January, 46 people lost their lives in another train accident in Andalusia, in southern Spain.
The two tragedies have brought safety issues on the Spanish rail network back into the spotlight, as well as the procedures for controlling and managing high-speed train traffic.
The latest accident occurred during a particularly critical political period for Spain, as the country is in the midst of an election campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections on November 29.
Source: Proto Thema
