Spain rail reconstruction depicts carriages tumbling down an embankment

The German report traces how two stopped high-speed trains collided after the rear train resumed its journey, with responsibility still under investigation.

Channel: ZDFheute Nachrichten ·

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Dutzende Tote: So lief die Kollision zweier Züge in Spanien ab | #spanien #unfall #züge

Two trains stop on the same track. Only the one behind starts moving again. A short animated reconstruction from Germany's public broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), published on its ZDFheute Nachrichten channel, depicts the sequence leading to Wednesday's fatal collision near Urda, in central Spain's Toledo province.

The animation shows both high-speed trains traveling toward Andalusia before a safety-system failure brings them to a halt. The rear train subsequently resumes its journey and strikes the stationary train at high speed. The locomotive and several carriages derail; the front train's two rear carriages fall down an embankment and sustain severe damage. These are computer-generated explanatory images, not footage of the crash.

The accompanying report identifies the operators as private high-speed company Iryo and state-owned Renfe. It cites Transport Minister Óscar Puente as saying that permission to proceed was given while automatic train protection remained unavailable following a computer failure, with trains stopped along the affected stretch.

Puente described the control center's decision as inexplicable, according to the report, but said the investigation would have to establish whether human error was involved. That leaves the reconstruction of the collision distinct from a finding of responsibility.

The Short's description reported at least 68 deaths. A later evening bulletin from the broadcaster raised that toll to at least 69 and reported that emergency crews were continuing to search for victims.