Spain Begins Three Days of Mourning After Train Crash Kills 68; DNA Centres Opened for Relatives

Spain has begun three days of mourning after a collision between two high-speed trains killed 68 people — the country's second such disaster this year. The Civil Guard has opened centres for relatives to provide DNA samples to help identify the victims, while emergency services combed through the wreckage overnight.

The crash happened on Wednesday morning on the line running from the capital, Madrid, to the southern region of Andalusia. One train belonged to the state-owned operator Renfe and the other to the private company Iryo. After the Iryo train came to a halt, the Renfe train slammed into its rear, knocking several carriages off the track near the town of Urda.

Officials said on Wednesday that another 107 people had needed hospital treatment, including 15 who were in a serious condition.

The disaster has raised fresh questions about safety on Spain's rail network. The country's transport minister reported an “error” and “inexplicable circumstances” that led to the crash.

Emergency services searched the wreckage through the night for further victims, hoisting pieces of mangled metal with cranes, according to the news agency AFP.

Emiliano García-Page, leader of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, told reporters on Wednesday that more victims were likely, as “it has not yet been possible to reach the bottom of the carriages”.

The Civil Guard has set up four offices — in Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Seville — where relatives can provide DNA samples to help identify victims. Blood donation points have also been set up in Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid.

A school in the village of Urda, around 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Madrid, is being used so relatives can enquire about their loved ones. Red Cross teams there are supporting the people who arrive, some of them in tears.

Red Cross psychologist Carmen Garcia said “long and hard hours” were in store, because “every person will manage it in their own way”. She said: “We have people who are in shock, who haven't taken on board what has happened, angry people, sad, worried people. The grieving will be complicated.”

In January, 46 people were killed and dozens injured when two trains — again one from Renfe and one from Iryo — collided on the same line near the town of Adamuz in Andalucía. This time, too, the same two companies and the same line were involved.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was “unacceptable for a country like Spain to suffer two high-speed train accidents in the same year”. The causes of the accident were under investigation, he added, and if failures in the security system or negligence emerged, they would be addressed with the “utmost severity”.

Among the first victims to be named was José Manuel Chacón, a 31-year-old Civil Guard agent. The national law enforcement agency expressed its “deepest condolences” to his family, friends and colleagues. Spanish media said the missing included a former minister of the People's Party and several foreigners who were likely on holiday in the country.

The opposition People's Party leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called for an immediate investigation and a “complete and independent review” of Spain's entire rail network. “Spain has the right to know what is going on with its infrastructure,” he told reporters.