A total of 69 people were killed in a high-speed train collision in Spain, including numerous foreign nationals. It is one of the deadliest rail disasters in Europe this century, occurring on Wednesday.
According to victim data, 54 Spaniards were among the dead, while the rest were foreign nationals. Four victims were citizens of the United States, and one each from Canada, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Tunisia and the Czech Republic. Among the dead were also one French and one Portuguese citizen.
A legal body composed of police and forensic experts released a list of the 10 most recently confirmed foreign victims in a statement late on Sunday. All but three victims have been identified, and three missing persons reports remain active. The missing persons reports concern two Australian women and one Japanese citizen. Contacted families have expressed a wish to travel to Spain for live identification.
The accident occurred when a train operated by state operator Renfe rear-ended a stationary train belonging to Spanish company Iryo. The collision took place outside the central village of Urda, located approximately 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Madrid. A failure in the automatic safety system stopped all trains on a 63-kilometre section of the line, and the control centre authorised the Renfe train to continue its journey while the other train was still stationary.
This was the second high-speed train collision in Spain this year. In January, 46 people were killed in a collision in the southern region of Andalusia. The tragedy occurred a month before the general election on 29 November, in which socialist leader Pedro Sánchez is attempting to overcome unfavourable polls and extend his eight-year term as prime minister.
