MADRID - At least 21 people were killed in Spain after two high-speed trains collided. The accident occurred when a train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz in Andalusia, crossing on to another track.
The president of State-funded firm Renfe, which operated one of the trains involved in the collision, says he has ‘discarded’ the possibility that the incident happened due to excessive speed or human error. Speaking to RNE, Spain’s national radio, Álvaro Fernández Heredia says human error is ‘practically discarded’ as even if a mistake had been made, a system within the train would have fixed it. He adds that both trains were under the 250km/h (155mph) maximum speed on the stretch of track where the crash happened, and that it took place on a straight section of the track rather than a curve.
Fernández Heredia points to either a mechanical fault or infrastructure issue as a more probable cause, but emphasises that it’s ‘very complicated’ to arrive at a conclusion so soon after the incident. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the scene of the crash in southern Spain later yesterday, local media report. Reports quote a statement by the prime minister’s office saying the aim of his visit is ‘to get first-hand information’ on Sunday’s crash. Sánchez cancelled his events schedule for yesterday following the deadly incident, and is also reported to have pulled out of his plans to travel to Davos today to attend the World Economic Forum.
At least 21 people were killed in Spain after two high-speed trains collided. (Pic: Reuters)