On Wednesday, 544 lives were forever marked by the collision between the AVE and Iryo trains that were traveling on the high-speed track between Madrid and Seville. More than half a thousand souls whose lives were paralyzed at 8:53, when the trains crashed. To the difficulties, uncertainties and chaos that the families of the Spanish passengers still face - since there are still missing people - is added a group, smaller but equally affected: that of the foreigners who were on that train. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 51 people from other countries - of 23 nationalities - who were traveling on one of the trains. Of all of them, 18 would be unharmed and nine injured to a greater or lesser degree. The rest are one deceased Argentine and 23 missing. 23 people, with names and surnames, whose families face the search from another country, with fewer contacts in Spain and even without knowing the national language and geography.
Fernando de Jesús Calvillo was touring Spain with his husband, Lawrence Naff, with whom he lives in Oklahoma, United States. A graphic designer dedicated to teaching at an arts institute, the couple was in Barcelona until Monday, where they visited the Sagrada Familia, one of the last photographs that their sister Alemi keeps on her phone, and that she has given to this newspaper. From Barcelona they moved to Madrid and from there to Toledo. They did everything on high-speed trains.
His next destination was Seville. For this reason, the couple boarded the AVE. They had tickets for car eight and were sitting together in row 7, seats C and D. The crash caught them in their seats, as the husband, an American national, has informed both Fernando's family and the Spanish authorities. He managed to escape with several fractures that kept him admitted to the Alcázar de San Juan hospital and for which he had to undergo surgery. "He doesn't know when they separated, he doesn't know if they left the car together, he lost it...", his sister says on the other end of the phone.
A cousin who lives in Spain traveled to the area yesterday to try to find him and one of his sisters is traveling from Mexico with the same purpose. "We have heard that there are people still unidentified, we think it is one of them," says Alemi, who remains in Mexico with the rest of the family, with hope.
The State Department and the United States Embassy in Madrid informed this newspaper yesterday that "several American citizens were injured; "We continue to work with local authorities to identify all Americans involved and provide them with consular assistance," although they did not offer the exact number of people. Among them is Fernando's husband Lawrence, an Oklahoma-based visual artist and jewelry designer who creates mosaics by placing crystals and gemstones on various surfaces.
Also touring Spain was the young Tunisian Yassin El-Jawadi, a 23-year-old boy who lives and works in Berlin. His family has explained to this newspaper that he traveled to Spain to attend the match between Barcelona and Real Madrid last Sunday. He decided to go sightseeing and visited the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in the capital, where he took the selfie that accompanies this information. On Wednesday, he boarded car number 7 of the AVE to see the capital of Seville before returning, at the end of the week, to Berlin, where he has lived for some time.
According to the information collected by EL MUNDO, the deceased reported by Foreign Affairs is an Argentine, also confirmed by the Foreign Ministry. This is Ana Martina Conte Grand, who was traveling through Spain with her brother Jeremías. They were in car 7 of the AVE. He was injured. According to information from Clarín, the Conte Grands were the children of Jorge, a doctor; and Claudia, a retired teacher. The Argentine Foreign Ministry has another missing citizen. This is Agustín Randazzo, 51 years old, who was traveling in car 8 of the AVE, he had arrived in Spain in 2002.
At the close of this edition, the Italian Farnesina reported nine Italians affected by the accident. Of which, two women are missing and one is admitted to the hospital. The Philippines reported one citizen slightly injured. For its part, the Government of Mexico confirmed yesterday that at least one Mexican citizen is missing, in reference to Fernando, and another seven have been slightly injured and all have been discharged from the hospital.
Japan confirmed that two Japanese citizens are on the list of passengers of the crashed trains, without specifying their status. Likewise, two South Korean citizens were injured, adding to nine others affected. Two Canadians, whose identity is circulating online but their family has asked this newspaper to preserve, also remain missing. French citizens complete the list.
In addition, the Government of Portugal confirmed this Friday that one of the crew members died as a result of the collision between the trains.
The Portuguese Foreign Ministry explained in a statement that the Portuguese victim was a man, without giving further personal information.
