All 69 victims of last week's train crash in central Spain identified, authorities say
The latest disaster struck when a service by state operator Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to Spanish company Iryo outside the central village of Urda.
Published on 3 November 2026 - 14:07 GMT+1
Spanish authorities have said they have identified all 69 people killed in last week's high-speed train collision after confirming the identities of three more victims.
Wednesday's disaster, one of Europe's deadliest rail accidents this century, has seen victims' relatives endure an agonising wait as forensics teams identified the dead, sometimes from individual body parts.
A legal body set up to handle the identification work, made up of police and forensics experts, announced in a statement late on Monday the three latest confirmed victims - two Australians and a Japanese citizen.
The victims include 54 Spanish nationals and 15 foreigners, four US citizens, two Australians, two Japanese and one each from Argentina, Canada, France, Mexico, Portugal, Tunisia and the Czech Republic.
The accident was Spain's second high-speed train collision this year and raised fresh questions about the country's rail safety, after a crash in the southern region of Andalusia in January killed 46 people.
The latest disaster struck when a service by state operator Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to Spanish company Iryo outside the central village of Urda, around 130 kilometres south of the capital Madrid.
The failure of an automatic safety system halted all trains on a 63-kilometre stretch of track, but a control centre authorised the Renfe service to resume its journey while the other train was still.
Spain will work "tirelessly" to restore public confidence in high-speed train travel, the transport minister said on Tuesday.
"We pledge to work tirelessly to achieve and regain the public's trust in high-speed rail," Óscar Puente told a press conference as he presented new measures to improve safety.
He also announced an aid package of €30 million for the families of the dead and the scores who were injured in Wednesday's accident in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha.
The tragedy came one month before a 29 November general election in which Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez will seek to overcome unfavourable polls and extend his eight-year premiership.
