Interior Minister Dismisses Sabotage Theory in Train Crash
The Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has ruled out the possibility of sabotage in the collision of two high-speed trains that resulted in at least 41 deaths on Sunday night in southern Spain.
During a press conference following the Council of Ministers, Grande-Marlaska clarified, “At no time and under no circumstances have we considered the possibility of sabotage. The focus has been on technical aspects and matters related to rail transport.”
King and Queen of Spain Visit the Accident Site
On the first day of the three days of national mourning declared by the government, the King and Queen of Spain visited the Andalusian region where the train collision occurred.
Dressed in black, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia arrived just before 12:00 GMT in the town of Adamuz to demonstrate their support for the victims’ families and survivors.
They went directly to the site where the remains of both trains still lie, and search operations for additional bodies continue.
In an updated briefing released early in the morning, the Andalusian regional government reported finding another deceased individual among the wreckage, raising the death toll to 41.
“The death toll has risen to 41, as the body of another person was recovered from one of the train cars last night,” the Andalusian government reported regarding the incident in Adamuz, Córdoba province. The toll may still rise as search efforts continue.
Additionally, “39 individuals remain hospitalized across Andalusian hospitals, including 35 adults and four children. Thirteen patients are in ICU, all of them adults,” according to authorities.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente speculated on Tuesday that the final death toll might resemble the missing persons reports, which numbered 43.
“We need to cross the missing persons reports with the confirmed fatalities. By late yesterday, the numbers were roughly consistent,” Puente explained on Onda Cero radio.
Heavy Machinery for Rescue Operations
Rescue teams at the scene are attempting, in particular, to lift the carriages of one train that fell off a 4-meter cliff onto the adjacent track.
To accomplish this, multiple cranes were deployed. The Andalusian government’s statement explained that “ground compaction efforts” had been conducted to stabilize the cranes.
Andalusian President Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla estimated on Monday night that authorities would need “24-48 hours” to definitively determine the number of victims, “with certainty,” following the accident.
On Sunday at 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT), two high-speed trains traveling on parallel tracks collided, with approximately 500 passengers aboard in total.
The last sections of a train operated by private company Iryo (which holds a 51% stake in the Italian public group Ferrovie dello Stato or Trenitalia) derailed while covering the Málaga to Madrid route.
These carriages ended up on the adjacent track just as a train from public Spanish company Renfe was approaching in the opposite direction, heading from Madrid to Huelva in southwestern Spain and ultimately colliding with them.
All four carriages of the Renfe train completely left the tracks, two even appearing to be crushed by the impact, according to aerial images shared by the Spanish Guardia Civil.
Several hundred meters beyond lay the red Iryo train, with most carriages still on the tracks and the last two tilted to one side.
Focus on Tracks and Trains
Initially dismissed as excessive speed or human error, explanations are now sought in the tracks and trains themselves.
“Human error is practically ruled out,” Renfe President Álvaro Fernández Heredia stated on public radio RNE.
A Guardia Civil photo showing agents inspecting a rail with a missing segment has sparked much speculation.
Minister Puente noted that it’s too early to determine if the missing rail segment was “a cause or a consequence” of the accident.
“There are often rail fractures when a train derails… and there’s an initial break,” Puente described to Onda Cero. “The question is whether this break was a cause or a consequence, and at the moment, no technical expert can confirm or deny this.”
Puente emphasized that the incident, occurring on recently renovated track, was “unusual.”
Portuguese survivor Santiago Salvador, interviewed by Portuguese television RPT, depicted the scene as “hellish,” with severely injured individuals and himself managing to escape relatively unscathed.
“There were people with very serious injuries, and my injury was minor, so I managed to get out on my own,” he explained, covered in scrapes. “It’s a miracle to be alive,” he concluded.
In July 2013, Spain experienced a severe rail tragedy when a train derailed just before arriving at the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela, resulting in 80 fatalities.
