Renfe train hit stationary Iryo at 160 kph, report says

A state-owned Renfe train struck a stationary Iryo train at a speed of at least 160 kilometers per hour, a preliminary accident report concluded on Thursday.

The collision near the central Spanish town of Urda killed at least 69 people on Wednesday, making it the country’s deadliest rail disaster since 2013. The Independent Authority for the Technical Investigation of Accidents and Incidents estimated the Renfe train was traveling between 160 and 200 kph at impact. Officials said they cannot confirm the precise speed until data is extracted from the train’s black box.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente explained that the crash followed a failure of the automatic signaling system. Several trains halted automatically, after which the Madrid control center assumed manual command. Puente stated that controllers authorized the Renfe train to proceed at normal speed despite a stationary Iryo train ahead. Protocol required a maximum speed of 40 kph in such circumstances.

Audio recordings obtained by El Pais revealed that a controller instructed the Renfe train, which carried 379 passengers and seven crew members, to continue. The Iryo train, with 147 passengers and five crew, was ahead and should have moved first according to standard procedures. The report described a sequence of malfunctions, instructions, and actions that led to the collision without sufficient mitigating barriers.

Esther Padilla, a spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, told state television TVE that authorities have completed 49 autopsies. Five victims have been identified so far: three women and two men. Padilla noted that testing proceeds slowly, but families will be contacted throughout the day to collect results. The Civil Guard reported 64 people are still missing, though it remains unclear how many of them are among the unidentified bodies.

The incident has intensified scrutiny of Spain’s high-speed rail network, the most extensive in Europe. This crash follows another fatal accident in January involving the same rail companies and line. Sebastian Herrero, a passenger near the front of the Iryo train, described the aftermath as devastating, noting carriages that were completely burnt out. He recalled seeing people in poor condition and others pulling bodies from the wreckage and placing them nearby.

The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to determine the specific technical and procedural failures that allowed the high-speed approach.