All 69 people killed in Spain’s Urda train crash have now been identified, and 65 of their bodies had been handed over to their families by November 4, as the country turns from the forensic work of identification towards Thursday’s funeral — and towards a fresh confrontation over rail safety.
The identification process was completed on Monday at the Institutes of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Toledo and Ciudad Real, according to the High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha. Of the 69 victims, 56 were identified by fingerprint, using the Civil Guard’s Criminalistics Service, and the other 13 through DNA tests by the National Institute of Toxicology. All 69 identifications have been communicated to the families, and consular offices have been informed for the foreign victims.
Who the victims were
The provisional toll remains 69, all of them adults — 40 men and 29 women. Fifty-four were Spanish nationals and 15 were foreigners: four Americans, two Australians, two Japanese, and one each from Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Mexico, Portugal and Tunisia, according to the Integrated Data Center. Twenty-nine injured people remained in hospital as of November 3, including nine in intensive care, according to Xinhua.
The final Iryo carriages have now been lifted from the tracks and moved to a secure area, and about 50 Civil Guard officers remained at the site on Monday. The collision happened at about 8:53am on October 28, when a Renfe AVE service struck a stationary Iryo train from behind on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, at an estimated 160 to 200 km/h, according to the technical investigation body’s preliminary report.
A funeral, and strikes on the same week
The funeral for the 69 victims will be held in Toledo Cathedral on Thursday, November 12, at 7pm, and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia will attend, according to reports. Spain has also approved aid and social protection measures for victims and their families. The government has yet to confirm whether the service will be designated a state funeral.
The same week brings industrial action. The SEMAF train drivers’ union has called strikes for November 10 and 12 in the aftermath of the crash, as unions press for clearer safety rules, better maintenance and training, and governance reforms at infrastructure manager Adif and operator Renfe. The investigation itself has not advanced publicly since yesterday’s developments: the trains’ black boxes remain in Guardia Civil custody awaiting court orders, the judicial proceedings are under a secrecy order, and experts warn the inquiry may take years. Spain votes in a general election on November 29, with rail safety now certain to feature in the campaign.
Related coverage: Urda Probe Turns to Control Room Calls as Renfe Tightens Rules | Spain Urda Crash: EU Agency to Help Probe Deadly Rail Disaster
