(London = Yonhap News) Correspondent Jiyeon Kim = On the morning of the 28th (local time), a high-speed train crash occurred near Toledo, south of Madrid, the capital of Spain, killing at least 64 people.
According to AP, AFP, and Reuters, a train belonging to the private railway company Irio and a train belonging to the state-owned railway company Renfe AVE collided near Urda, Toledo region, Castile-La Mancha, at around 9 a.m. on this day.
The two trains reportedly collided near Urda, about 120 km south of Madrid, while departing from Madrid and heading toward Seville, Andalusia.
“We are talking about 64 (deaths), but the number will definitely rise,” Castile-La Mancha Governor Emiliano Garciapaje said.
Spanish media previously reported that there were 50 dead and 179 injured.
Ester Padilla, a spokeswoman for Castile-La Mancha, said a total of 544 people were on board, including 397 on the Renfe train and 147 on the Irio train.
It was confirmed that six Koreans were on board the accident train and suffered minor injuries. Lim Su-seok, Ambassador to Spain, told Yonhap News that consular support was being provided to six citizens with minor injuries and that they were continuing to check for additional damage.
The number of deaths is likely to increase.
Health Minister Monica Garcia told TVE that rescue teams were focusing on finding survivors in the two most severely damaged carriages and that the injured were being taken to hospital. He said, “It was a high-speed collision, so a disaster is expected.”
A spokesman for Padilla told state broadcaster TVE that the accident occurred between two high-speed trains traveling from Madrid to Seville, one of which crashed into the rear of the other and went off the track.
ADIF, a railway infrastructure management company, told
Looking at photos and videos from foreign media, several carriages appear to have fallen off the tracks and down the embankment, and a significant portion of the car body appears to have been damaged.
Jesús Jerónimo (54), who was heading to Seville for work on a Renfe train, told the Spanish newspaper El Pais, "People were thrown from the train. It felt like the train had derailed, and when I got out little by little, my train was tilted."
Urda's mayor, Manuel Gallán, told TVE that passengers were injured and that the town's gym had been asked to make space to accommodate them.
The exact circumstances of the accident were not reported.
However, ABC and El Pais, citing sources, said that there appears to have been a human error in which the Renfe AVE train, which was behind, did not send a signal about the Irio train in front. Reuters also cited sources as saying that it is understood that another high-speed train collided with the Irio train while it was stopping under the direction of railway infrastructure manager ADIF due to a signal problem.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on
Prime Minister Sánchez and the leadership of the main opposition People's Party (PP) postponed their election campaign schedule ahead of the early general elections on the 29th of next year due to the major accident.
King Felipe VI also said in a statement to
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “I comfort the families of the victims,” and added, “Today, Europe mourns with you.”
EU spokesperson Paula Pinho also said, “The EU is ready to help Spain in any way necessary,” adding, “It is too early to draw any conclusions (regarding the accident).”
The Spanish Football Association canceled all 24 matches of the Copa del Rey soccer tournament scheduled for today.
This accident occurred nine months after a train crash near Adamus, Córdoba, Andalusia, in January, killing 46 people. As a result of the accident at the time, there was a series of criticisms about the lack of investment in railway maintenance.
About 80 people also died in a train derailment in 2013.
Spain is a country with the largest high-speed rail network in Europe, with a total length of over 3,900 km. It is second in the world after China.
