Death toll rises to 74 after deadly train collision in Spain

The death toll from the train collision near Urda, in Spain’s Toledo province, has risen to 74, according to a preliminary report from the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF).

“The provisional death toll from the accident is 74, in addition to a very high number of injured people that has yet to be confirmed,” the agency’s investigation file states.

Around 200 people were previously reported injured. Of those, 53 remain hospitalized in Castilla-La Mancha, while another 56 have been discharged, according to the report.

Investigators examine possible causes

The collision is being investigated amid reports that a combination of technical failure in the safety system and human error at the central control center may have contributed to the disaster.

Technical specialists, Spain’s Transport Ministry and independent experts are examining three possible explanations for the collision between a Renfe-operated AVE train and an Iryo train on the high-speed route connecting Madrid and Andalusia. The cause of the crash has not been definitively established.

The accident follows other serious railway incidents reported in Spain this year. On January 18, more than 40 people were reported killed in a train accident in Adamuz, Córdoba, which remains under investigation. Days later, a passenger train collided with a retaining wall that had fallen onto the tracks near Barcelona. The train driver, a young trainee from Seville, died, and more than 30 passengers were injured.