At Least 68 Dead in Spain Rail Crash; Leaked Audio Sparks Alarm
Leaked audio recordings obtained by a national broadcaster suggest that controllers at state rail manager Adif told the driver of the moving train to switch off its malfunctioning LZB safety system and carry on at speeds of up to 200 km/h.
“Disconnect and reconnect the LZB and resume journey under the protection of the BSL at normal speed,” controllers told the driver at 8.36 am local time.
Minutes later, the driver of the Iryo train reported being unable to proceed: “I’ve had a loss of transmission and I’m stopped at the Urda entrance signal.”
The government has blamed human error for allowing a train onto an occupied track. But the national broadcaster, citing sources, challenged that timeline, reporting that the Iryo train had not been cleared to move before the impact.
The crash happened in central Spain, roughly 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Madrid, between Mora and Orgaz. A train traveling from Madrid to Seville slammed into the stationary Iryo train, sending several carriages tumbling down an embankment.
The Iryo train, carrying 147 passengers, had stopped on the tracks because of a computer system failure.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente named system failure and human error as possible causes.
Survivors described terrifying scenes: being hurled through the air, pinned in twisted wreckage and smashing windows to get out.
The disaster exposes weaknesses on the 1992 Madrid-Seville route, which still depends on the older LZB system rather than the modern European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) safety technology.
It is the second deadly crash on the line in nine months, after a January accident near Cordoba that killed 46 people.
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