Paris
Urda, 8.54 am
On Wednesday morning, an AVE and an Iryo train collided outside a village in Castilla-La Mancha, 150 km south of Madrid. Before the firefighters, it was the neighbours who ran to the track. At least 68 dead.
· N° 10
Before the sirens, the neighbours. At 8.54 am, a Renfe AVE and an Iryo train collided near Urda station, on the Madrid-Andalusia line. Residents of Urda and Los Yébenes broke through the fences, carried the walking wounded to their cars, handed out water. “The village saves the village, there is no shortage of hands,” said Judith, who came with food and drink. The sports hall became a field hospital.
Ten dead at noon, 68 by evening
The toll rose all day. Ten dead at noon, 21, 64, then 68 in the evening, in the regional count. On Thursday morning, four bodies remain in the carriages and the region “does not rule out” a heavier toll. More than 110 injured, 53 still in hospital, 15 in critical condition.
“Inexplicable”
In the evening, Óscar Puente, the transport minister, spoke of an “inexplicable” accident: after a failure of the safety system, Adif’s control centre at Atocha authorised the AVE to resume “normal running”. Iryo replies that its driver was still waiting for instructions. Renfe has stopped selling Madrid-Andalusia tickets until December. On 18 January, at Adamuz, on the same line, 46 died. What is Europe’s longest high-speed network worth when two trains end up on the same track?
Based on Castilla-La Mancha Media, Público, franceinfo and Le Monde