Violent protests have erupted in Madrid over the train collision that killed 69 people, as an audio recording appeared to show that rail controllers failed to warn a driver about a stationary train ahead.
Demonstrators gathered near the Ministry of Transport, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Transport Minister Oscar Puente. Chants included “Pedro Sanchez is to blame” and “Oscar Puente is a murderer”.
The protest near Nuevos Ministerios began peacefully but later descended into clashes with police. Bins were overturned and at least one fire was started, while officers from the Riot Control Unit used pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Several hard-right groups, including Revuelta, which is endorsed by the Vox party, are reported to have called for further demonstrations across Spain.
Audio raises questions over train crash response
The recording from the control centre was made in the minutes before the collision between a Renfe train travelling from Madrid to Seville and a stationary Iryo train on the same route near Toledo.
At 8.41am, the Iryo driver told controllers that the LZB safety system had failed and that she was stopped at the Urda entry signal. The controller authorised her to resume normal travel, while giving the same instruction to the approaching Renfe train without warning its driver about the failed system or the stationary train.
Five minutes before the crash, at 8.48am, the Iryo driver called again to say she still could not restart the system. She was told to try again and call back if she experienced any problems.
Mr Puente said an automatic control system had failed along 69 kilometres of track, bringing trains to a halt. He said the control centre had decided to resume traffic in circumstances that were “inexplicable” and had “more than enough time to verify the error”.
The crash derailed three carriages and left more than 100 people injured. One carriage caught fire, while images from the scene showed wreckage pierced by a long steel rail.
Emergency teams worked through the night at the site, near the village of Urda, using cranes to lift mangled sections of the trains. Police drones were deployed again at daybreak, while a school in the village was turned into a centre where relatives could seek information about loved ones.
Red Cross workers and psychologists supported families arriving at the centre. Carmen Garcia, a Red Cross psychologist, said there were people who were “in shock”, as well as others who were angry, sad and worried.
Passengers described scenes of devastation after the collision. Sebastian Herrero, 46, who was travelling on the Iryo train, said he was thrown against the seats and was “in the air for about four or five seconds”.
“It’s a twisted mass of metal. It’s as if they had planted a bomb,” he said.
Other survivors described people climbing through broken windows and suffering severe injuries. Architect Joaquín Torres said a woman who had been badly hurt died in his arms, while another passenger said the impact left her “spinning on the floor”.
Fatima Banez, Spain’s former employment minister, was among those killed. Flags were flown at half-mast on public buildings as the country observed a day of mourning, with official ceremonies and public events cancelled or scaled back.
The collision is Spain’s third deadly railway disaster this year, following two crashes in January. One of those incidents killed 47 people, while the other claimed the life of a train driver and injured dozens more.
A further railway disruption occurred near Toledo on Thursday when a train carrying 454 passengers was stopped in a tunnel after an incident affected the electricity supply. Passengers were forced to evacuate from the tunnel, which is more than one kilometre long.
