Leaked audio recordings published in Spanish media have revealed conversations between train drivers and a control centre just minutes before a deadly crash on Wednesday morning that killed 69 people. Officials are investigating the cause of the disaster, which occurred when a train from Madrid to Seville barrelled into a stationary train near Urda.
Audio Recordings Show Conflicting Orders
Three audio recordings between Madrid’s control centre and two train drivers appear to show that one high-speed train was given clearance to move even though another train had stalled on the track, about 25km (15 miles) ahead. The moving train, operated by state-owned Renfe, carried 397 passengers, while the stationary train, run by private operator Iryo, carried 147 passengers. A computer failure involving the automatic signalling system had forced all trains to halt on the affected stretch, before the Renfe train was ordered to proceed in error, according to Spain’s transport minister.
The audio recordings were published by several Spanish news outlets including El Pais and RTVE. In one recording, a control centre operator tells the driver of the Renfe train to continue the journey at normal speed using the Lateral Signalling Block, an alternative system used when automatic signalling fails. In another recording, the driver of the stationary Iryo train tells the control centre that communication with the train-control system has been lost and the train is stopped in front of the entry signal at Urda, before later reporting that the train will not allow the security system to be controlled.
Iryo stated that its carriages were struck from behind by the other train. Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente said on Wednesday that the decision to instruct the trains to move again without speed restrictions was inexplicable.
Casualties and National Mourning
Dozens of people were injured in the disaster, with survivors recounting harrowing scenes of people crying and bleeding, passengers trapped in their seats, missing limbs, and smoke billowing throughout the carriages, one of which caught fire. On Thursday, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited some of the injured passengers in a hospital in Toledo, and the country began three days of national mourning following what ranks as one of Europe’s worst modern rail disasters.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that authorities would get to the bottom of every last detail of the tragedy. Meanwhile, the leaking of the audio recordings faced criticism from some Spanish politicians, while rail drivers proceeded with a planned strike on Thursday that the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers described as being held in defence of railway safety.
Emergency crews worked through the night under powerful floodlights at the crash site to cut open metal carriages in the search for victims, with many of those killed still to be identified. A Spanish Civil Guard spokesperson told BBC News that more than 900 people from specialist departments had been deployed, urging those with missing family members to visit local centres to offer DNA samples.
