Spain Mourns After Fatal Train Accident

By Staff, Agencies

Spain will start three days of mourning on Tuesday as rescue teams search the wreckage of a train crash that has killed at least 40 people and injured dozens.

On Monday, over 18 hours after a high-speed train derailed, people across Spain struggled to reach missing loved ones in the country’s worst rail disaster in over a decade.

Juan Barroso said five family members were on the train, with only a six-year-old found so far, and “now we’re searching for the four who are missing.” Others posted photos of loved ones on social media, pleading for anyone with information to get in touch.

Police said they had opened several offices where people could file reports and “provide DNA samples for the purpose of identification”.

At the crash site, Prime Minister Sanchez promised a full investigation, saying “Spanish society… is wondering what happened, how it happened, how this tragedy could have occurred,” as he declared three days of mourning.

The cause of the accident remains unknown, though officials called it “really strange” on a straight, recently renovated track. The train, less than four years old, had been inspected four days earlier, and the president of the state rail company, Renfe, Alvaro Fernandez Heredia said human error is “practically ruled out.”

Technicians reportedly found a broken rail joint that created a widening gap, which may help explain the accident, though Adif, the state-owned rail infrastructure administrator, and the Spanish rail safety commission have not commented.

Since 2022, Adif flagged 10 issues at the crash site, with unions citing heavy rail traffic causing track wear and frequent breakdowns.

On Monday the train drivers’ union called for caution in linking their earlier warning to the crash, stressing that the cause of the collision remained unknown.

As reports of the collision began circulating on Sunday evening, emergency officials rushed to the remote area where it took place.

Officials warned the death toll could rise as authorities use heavy machinery to search a widened area, with some carriages in a “very deteriorated, very regrettable state” and bodies found hundreds of meters from the crash.

The crash shocked Spain, home to Europe’s largest high-speed rail network and the world’s second after China, which carried over 25 million passengers in 2024.