Audio recordings published by Spanish media have revealed conversations between train drivers and a railway control centre in the minutes before a crash that killed at least 69 people and injured dozens more. The collision happened on Wednesday morning, when a train travelling from Madrid to Seville ran into a stationary train. Officials are investigating what caused the disaster.
Three recordings between the control centre in Madrid and two drivers appear to show that one high-speed train was cleared to move even though another, about 25km (15 miles) ahead on the same line, had stalled. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who travelled to the area, said authorities were working “day and night” to “get to the bottom of every last detail of this tragedy”. The crash prompted the start of three days of national mourning.
Recordings suggest a stalled train was cleared to move
A state-owned Renfe train carrying 397 passengers was following a private Iryo train with 147 passengers on board. A reported fault in the automatic signalling system, described as a computer failure, had forced all trains to halt on the affected stretch. Spain’s transport minister later said the Renfe train had been ordered to proceed in “error”.
Also read: Spain train collision kills at least 68 south of Madrid · Spain high-speed train collision kills 30, toll may rise
In one recording, a controller tells the Renfe driver, who was travelling behind the other train and had reported technical difficulties, to continue and then proceed under the Lateral Signalling Block at normal speed. When the driver asks whether that means normal speed, the controller confirms it does. The lateral block is a back-up system used when automatic signalling or data transmission fails.
In another recording, the Iryo driver says communication with the train-control system has been lost and that the train is stationary in front of the entry signal at Urda. After a series of exchanges, the driver is told to resume the journey. A later call from the same driver says the train will not let them operate the security system, so they remain stopped before the signal, and the recording suggests the controller had been told the Iryo train was still stationary as the Renfe train approached.
Iryo said its train was “struck from behind” by the other train. Transport minister Óscar Puente said on Wednesday that the decision to instruct the trains to move again, without any speed restrictions, was “inexplicable”.
Politicians criticise leaks as protests erupt in Madrid
The leaking of the audio has drawn criticism from some Spanish politicians. Alberto Ibáñez, a member of Congress for the left-wing Sumar platform, described the leaks as “despicable” in a post on X. Irene Montero, the prime ministerial candidate for the left-wing Podemos party, said responsibility for the crash should not fall on one worker. She added that train drivers and experts had warned for years against the liberalisation of the railway sector.
Most Spanish politicians have cancelled public engagements and suspended campaigning ahead of a snap election on 29 November. The far-right party Vox is the exception. Its leader, Santiago Abascal, said his party would not take part in what he described as attempts to “use mourning to silence criticism” of the country’s rail infrastructure. The leader of the main opposition People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said Spain had the right to know what was happening with its infrastructure.
Around 1,500 people gathered overnight outside the Transport Ministry building in Madrid, according to a Spanish public broadcaster, and demonstrators were largely calling for the resignations of Sánchez and Puente. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd after protesters threw bottles and flares. No injuries or arrests were reported. Rail drivers went ahead with a planned strike on Thursday, and the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers, known as Semaf, said the action was being held “in defence of railway safety”.
Rescue crews race to identify victims at crash site
Emergency crews worked through the night under powerful floodlights, cutting open metal carriages in the search for victims. Many of those killed have yet to be identified. Spain’s interior ministry said hundreds of personnel had been deployed to the site, with drones and helicopters being used to locate victims and remove rubble.
A Civil Guard spokesperson said more than 900 people from different specialist departments had been deployed, and that identifying remains was now the top priority. The spokesperson said they did not know how long that process would take. Families with missing relatives were urged to visit one of the local centres set up to take DNA samples. The Civil Guard has also opened bureaus in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Córdoba to investigate reports of missing persons.
Witnesses described seeing people crying and bleeding, passengers trapped in their seats, and smoke filling the carriages, one of which caught fire. Late on Wednesday, relatives were still trying to gather information about passengers who had been on either train. The crash is the worst the country has seen since 2013, when 80 people died on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.
